Katrina's Story
by Kathryn Blakeney
Summary: Mark's nice has come to live with him in LA. She soon finds out that mystery is in her blood, and with her new friends in tow, she begins adventures of a life time. This is Katrina's story.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

The room was completely dark, except for one corner where three men sat at a round table. Their small candle offered just enough light to read the papers and charts that were scattered on the table top. It would have been better to turn on the lights, but their presence could not be known.

The leader of the meeting spoke in hushed tones, "Now, do you know what you two are to do?"

"Yes, Rich," one man replied, "We sneak over to the house, light a torch, and throw it in the window."

"Good," the leader replied, "Now, maybe our student can tell us a little about this house he chose."

The third man sitting at the table leaned forward so that his face was illuminated by the candle. He was only a young boy of seventeen years, but his eyes spoke of wisdom beyond his years. "This is a wealthy family with two daughters, one age six, and the other soon to be fifteen. I have known them all of my life."

"Why turn on them?" the leader questioned.

"Not them," the boy replied, "the daughter."

"What has she done to deserve this?" the other man asked.

The boy's eyes wandered away from the table and seemed to be looking at a far off place. "I pledged my life to her. I gave her my heart, and she smashed it!"

"Well, we will help you, Trent. The girl will see that you mean what you say. She will pay for what she has done," the leader said.

"We need to go, Rich," the other replied, "the sun is coming up."

The leader nodded. "I will see you two one week from tonight. This will be our practice night before we take our cause to America."

Soon, the candle was extinguished, and the three men went their separate ways.

Chapter 1:

The Party

Katrina Sloan, a pretty British red-head, sat on the dock that jutted out over the lake behind her home in Bristol, England. In her lap she held a letter from her uncle. Carefully, she picked up the envelope and broke the seal. The return address was LA California USA. Katie's heart skipped a beat as she pulled the letter out of the envelope and began to read:

To my beautiful Katrina,

I can hardly believe that you are going to be fifteen this week! I wish I could be there for your birthday, but you know how busy it can be at the hospital. I hope you understand. I pray that you will have a wonderful birthday.

Your mother sent me your school picture, and I added it to my collection in my office. You are growing to be a beautiful young lady. All of my friends have commented on the picture, and they all think that you are lovely.

Steve wanted me to tell you hello. He says that he would have written you a letter himself, but he couldn't find the right paper or pen. How much of that you believe is really up to you. Personally, I think it's just an excuse to not write to you.

I hope that you can come and see me soon. I want to show you the hospital where I want to make you a doctor some day. Remember, you can come any time that you want because you always have a home here in California.

Lots of love,

Uncle Mark

Katie folded the letter and placed it back into the envelope. She tipped her head back and allowed her red curls to fall down her back. Her gray eyes sparkled when she heard her father walking up behind her.

"Hello, Baby," Mr. Sloan said.

"Hi, Daddy! Guess what today is?"

"Well, it's Friday, June 25. Did I guess right?"

"Yes, what else?"

"I have no idea."

Katie frowned. "You mean you forgot that it's my birthday?" she pouted.

"Oh! That's right," Mr. Sloan laughed as he sat beside his daughter.

"I love you, Daddy. I knew you wouldn't forget," Katrina replied as she threw her arms

around her father. "I got a letter from Uncle Mark today."

"Good. I would have to hurt my brother if he forgot your birthday," Mr. Sloan smiled.

"Oh, he would never forget my birthday. Steve might, but not his dad."

"Yes, Steve can be absent minded. So, are you ready for your party? The guests will be here soon."

"Yes! I can hardly wait."

"Well, right this way m'lady," Mr. Sloan said pulling his daughter to her feet.

Katie took her father's arm and together they walked up to the house. When they entered, they were greeted by Katrina's mother, who held a beautiful emerald green formal out to her daughter. Katrina gasped as her mother explained where the dress had come from.

"Your Uncle Mark said that since you were a lady now, you needed a lady's dress. He sent it two weeks ago, but he didn't want you to get it until your party," she said.

"Momma, it's beautiful!" Katrina whispered.

"Mark thought it would be perfect since you're having a formal party. He also said that he wished he could dance with you and see you in it, but that Peter would just have to take his place."

Katie giggled and rushed up to her room to put on the dress. She was so excited that her fingers fumbled with the buttons. Once she had the dress on, she waltzed down the staircase, to show her family. Her six year old sister, Emily, clapped and said, "Katie, you are so pretty."

Mr. Sloan whistled and replied, "After tonight, I'll have to keep you locked up so I can protect you from the boys, Katrina. You look beautiful."

"Thank you," Katie replied.

"Let's go fix your hair and make up, Love," Mrs. Sloan said.

Katie hurried up to her room with her mother close behind. She walked over to her dressing table and sat in the chair. Mrs. Sloan plugged in a curling iron, and began to brush her daughter's red hair. "I hope you have a wonderful time tonight," she said.

"Oh, I'm sure I will Momma," Katie said.

"Well, I had better hurry," Mrs. Sloan said, glancing at the clock, "The guests will be here soon."

"Did you have any formal parties when you were young, Momma?"

"Are you saying I'm not young now?"

"No, but you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do," Mrs. Sloan laughed, "and yes, I had several formal parties. Your grandmother loved to give parties, especially for your Aunt Meg and I. There was never a dull moment at our home."

The pair was silent from then on, each lost in thought. Katie couldn't wait for the guests to arrive. She was sure that this was going to be a wonderful night.

The party was wonderful just as expected. Around ten o'clock, Peter Barry, Katie's sweetheart pulled her out to the garden. The two of them sat on a bench and began to talk.

"Katrina, you look lovely tonight," Peter said.

"Thank you," Katie blushed.

"So, do you still want to be a doctor in the United States with your uncle?"

"I think so, but that would mean that I would have to leave you."

"Oh, you can still raise our kids there," Peter laughed.

"So you are already planning our wedding, are you?"

"Of course."

"I'm only fifteen, Peter, and you're only sixteen!"

"So, I can still start planning."

"Trent wouldn't agree with you," Katie sighed.

"Is he still seeing you?" Peter asked.

"No! I mean, I try to avoid him, but he still insist on calling every once in a while. I'm good friends with him, but I could never marry him."

"Have you told him that?"

"Many times. Besides, he's seventeen now, and, well, I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"He's not the type of guy for you?" Peter finished.

"Exactly. Peter, he scares me. He's so set on marrying me when I am old enough."

"I won't let that happen, Katie. Peter said."

"Why can't he take no for an answer?" Katie asked, "and, Peter, why can't you two stop fighting over me?"

Peter didn't seem to hear Katrina's question. He looked up to see Trent Moslee enter the garden, and head toward them. "I'll be right back, Katie," Peter said. He stood, and stormed past Trent.

Trent walked up to Katie and pulled her up to him. "You said you would stop seeing him, Katie," he hissed.

"I never said that," Katie shot at him.

"Katrina," Trent said as he backed her against a giant oak tree, "I'll give you one more chance, say you'll be mine."

"No," Kate said.

"I will have you. Make no mistake of that." He grabbed both of her wrists as she tried to squirm away.

"Trent, please stop. That hurts."

He loosened his grip, but did not release her. "You will be my wife, Katie." Trent bent down and kissed Katrina just as Peter returned. Trent looked at Peter, and replied, "I will have her, Peter," then he turned back to Katie, "Darling, I had a lovely evening. Thank you, but I have to go now. I feel I have overstayed my welcome."

Trent left the garden with a smile of satisfaction on his face. Peter ran to Katrina and held her in his arms. "Did he hurt you?" he asked.

"No. I'm fine, but you have to stop this fight!" she hissed.

After all of the guests had left that night, Katie sat in the kitchen talking with her mother about the party.

"Would you change anything about the night, Katrina?"

"Well, I suppose I would have tried to stop Peter and Trent from fighting over me. Momma, I don't know what to think. The two boys used to be such good friends, but now, they both fight for my love. I'm only fifteen!"

"Well, which boy do you love more?"

"Oh, I couldn't just pick out of the air like that! Both of them have wonderful qualities, but they both have their faults. I just don't know what to do."

"Just continue to pray about it, Katrina. That's all we can do."

Katie sighed, "I know, I just wish I knew what I should do."

"Well, Love, God wants to teach you something through all of this. I only pray that he will make you into a beautiful woman some day. I don't know how He will do that, but I know if you will be willing to do all that He asks of you, God will change you into something even more beautiful then you are now. He already has done a great work in you, and I have enjoyed watching His plan unfold in your life. I may not be around to see the end of that plan, but what I have seen is truly wonderful."

Katrina smiled. It was true that God had done a great work in her heart and life. She wondered what He was going to do in the future. Would she be willing and ready to let Him continue to change her? She hoped so.

Later that night, Katie lay in bed remembering all that had occurred that night. She tried to think about the party, and all of the fun she had, but that was all overshadowed by the time she had spent in the garden. Katie didn't want to think about who she was to marry, but she did have two boys fighting for her affection. Questions flooded Katie's mind. Who should she marry? How would she know which boy was the right one?

The answers that Katrina was looking for would not come quickly. In fact Katrina's life would change in many ways before she would know whom she was to marry. Later she would recall that she never would have chosen the plan that God had for her life if she had known all that it entailed. Through all that would happen to her, however, Katrina would emerge from the fire and trials as a beautiful vessel in the Master's hand.

That summer passed by quickly, and Katrina started her eleventh grade year with her best friend Mary O'Neil. Together the two girls continued to learn and grow both mentally and spiritually. Katie still struggled with questions of who she was to marry, but Mary convinced her to worry about such things later.

One day after school, Katie and Mary were walking out of the school gate when they heard a loud car horn behind them. Katrina turned to see Peter sitting in the drivers seat of a brand new Mustang convertible.

"Where did he get that?" Kate asked.

Mary turned and starred at the car. "I have no clue."

Peter pulled his car up beside the curb and the girls stopped. "My dad got it for my birthday. He ordered it from America, but it took a while for it to be delivered. This beauty has only one hundred miles on it."

"Well, your steering wheel is on the wrong side of the carriage, Prince Charming," Mary giggled.

"Mary!" Katrina said slapping her friend's arm.

"Well, he's only trying to show off to you, Katie."

"For your information, Mary O'Neil, this is the side that the American's have all their steering wheels, and they all drive on the opposite side of the road than we do," Peter retorted, ignoring the girl's comment about showing off.

"Are we still on for our picnic tonight, Peter?" Katrina asked.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," he said.

As he drove away, Katrina sighed and began to walk down the sidewalk. Mary rolled her eyes, and said, "I hope you two won't be like this all year."

Unfortunately for Mary, that's exactly what happened. The relationship Katrina and Peter had continued to blossom throughout the school year. By the time exams rolled around, they were considered to be going steady, although they both denied the fact.

Neither Peter nor Katie ever noticed Trent Moslee during that time. He took in everything that was going on, and aloud his anger to grow. He vowed to repay the man that had stolen Katrina from him. Slowly, Trent's anger took hold of him, and the only thought that consumed his mind was revenge.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

An Unexpected Accident

She smiled as she imagined herself as the main character of the mystery book that lay in her lap. Katie loved to imagine going through all of the mysteries, and adventures. "Wouldn't it be exciting to be a detective?" she sighed, "Steve always said that I could work with him in LA. I guess he thinks I'd be a good detective."

At the thought of America, Katie sighed and looked at a picture of her uncle and cousin that she had on her dresser. She hadn't seen them since she was five. They had come to England for a visit once, but because of their jobs, they hadn't been able to return. Mark was a doctor in LA at Community General Hospital, and his son, Steve, was a police officer in the LA Police Department.

Katrina missed them so much. She faithfully prayed for them every day, and wrote them letters every week. Katie always asked about America, and what it was like. She hoped to one day visit her family and see it for herself.

Katrina's thoughts were brought back to England when she heard her sister playing outside. She looked out of the window and smiled as she watched Emily play with the dog on the back lawn, in the last few minutes of light that the sun provided.

"She's so full of life," Katie said. "I hope she always stays so sweet and energetic."

"Isn't it fun to watch her?" Katrina's mother asked as she walked into the room.

"Yes it is."

"I wish you didn't have so many years between the two of you."

Katie smiled. She was quite a bit older than her sister; nine years to be exact. Katie was fifteen, but she seemed so much older than she actually was. She was very responsible, and very mature for being in the eleventh grade. Katie remembered when she had been encouraged to skip a grade, yet she had chosen to finish high school with her best friends.

Katrina pushed those thoughts aside when she heard her sister running up the stairs calling to her.

"Katie! Katie, where are you?"

"In my room, Emmie."

"Guess what? I taught the dog a new trick!"

"Did you?"

"Yeah. I'm going to have the best trained dog in the country!"

"Not before you get your rest, little one," Mrs. Sloan said. "Now kiss your sister goodnight, and lets get you to bed."

"Yes, Mama. 'Night Katie."

Something told Katie that she ought to hug her little sister a little longer tonight. Katrina whispered to her sister, "I love you so much, Emily. Don't ever forget that."

When Katie finally let go of her sister, she smiled and told her mother that she would be in bed shortly as well. She went down stairs, and knocked on her Father's study. "Daddy, can I come in?" she asked.

"Sure, Katie." he replied.

Katie opened the door, and walked to her father's desk. "Hi. How was your day?"

"Good. I was busy at work, but it was a good day. How was yours, Katie?"

"It was okay. Peter keeps picking on me, but Mary says that's normal for a boy to do when he likes a girl."

"And do you like Peter?" Mr. Sloan questioned with a smile.

"Yes," Katrina replied simply, "What do you think of him, Dad?"

"I think he's a nice boy. He's a Christian like you, and he's got a good attitude about

life, and he is good looking. Not that that's a top priority, but it's a plus."

Katie grinned, and kissed her father, then pulled up a chair and sat down. She loved talking with her dad in the evenings.

"So what does he tease you about?"

"Oh, the usual. He insists on calling me 'Carrots' because of my red hair, and he says that I dream too much about my books. He thinks I should just keep my thoughts on cooking and cleaning and how I'm going to take care of him and his children. I told him that he needed to stop dreaming about me becoming his wife, and he just grinned that stupid, irresistible grin of his."

Mr. Sloan smiled. He and Katie continued talking about various things until nine o'clock. Katrina yawned and said that she needed to go to bed. She kissed her Father, and told him that she loved him, then went back up the stairs to say the same to her mother.

Katie crept by her sister's bedroom so as not to wake Emily, and closed her own bedroom door softly behind her. Katrina got down on her knees, and began to pray to her heavenly Father. "Lord Jesus, thank you for being so wonderful to me. I pray that you would protect my family and I through the night, and may Your will be done in all things. Help me to be used as a tool in your hands, Lord. Please protect Uncle Mark and Steve in America. I ask that some day I would be able to see them. Please don't let them forget that I love them, and miss them. Thank you for being my heavenly Father. I love you. In Jesus' name, amen."

Katrina crawled into bed, and began to think about America again. She had never lived there a day in her life, but she had heard stories of it from her uncle. It sounded wonderful. She had always lived in England, yet she wanted to live in America, and work with her Uncle Mark at Community General Hospital in Los Angeles, California. Katie's thoughts slowly drifted away as sleep came over her.

Katrina was asleep for only an hour, when she was awaken by a sickening scream. She sat bolt upright in bed, but fell back coughing as smoke filled her lungs. As she coughed, a horrible thought came into her mind; the house is on fire! Katie heard her sister scream once again. "Katie, help me! Katie, where are you?"

I'm coming, Emily!" Katrina called back. She dropped to the floor, and began to crawl toward her sister's bedroom. When she got there, Katie's heart sank. Emily's clothes were on fire, and the girl was frantically rolling about the floor to try to extinguish the flames. Without hesitation, Katrina grabbed her sister, raced down the stairs, and out the front door.

When she reached the front of the house, Katie felt someone pull her and her sister apart, and beat the flames out with a blanket. At first, Katrina didn't feel any pain, and she tried to move. As she did, however, she was ordered to lie still, and the pain began to be unbearable. Katie would later discover that she suffered from second and third degree burns on her arms, legs, back, and face.

In the distance, Emily was screaming in pain, and Katrina wanted to go to her, but she herself was in too much pain to move. Katie wondered where her parents were. Her mind began swirling with questions. "Where are Mom and Dad? Are they all right? Is Emily going to make it? Am I going to make it? What will happen if Emily and I are orphans?" Soon, the pain that Katrina felt caused her to slip into unconsciousness, and Katie didn't wake up until she was in the hospital alone, frightened, and in terrible pain.

Katie would not find out what had happened to the rest of her family for two weeks. Emily was covered from head to toe in third degree burns, and did not survive through the night. Katrina's parents were both killed in the fire, leaving Katrina an orphan.

Katie had so much to think about, yet her doctors told her that at the moment, she had to focus on recovery. She was transferred to a hospital in London that had a special burn unit. It was there that she began her long painful recovery.

Katrina had no idea that recovery from burns could be so difficult. Every day, she was given long, painful baths in special tubs, with special soap. A nurse would help her get into the tub, and would begin to scrub at Katie's skin with a brush. The charred, dead skin would begin to fall away, revealing raw irritated skin underneath.

Katrina had at least three of these baths every day. After each one, she was put back into bed, and had to have ointment rubbed on her body. Then a protective plastic sheet was placed over her. It was an extremely painful process that Katie dreaded having to go through every day. She only managed through constant prayer, and the strength that only God could give to her.

Katie knew that she was quite a sight to see. Her friends could only visit her from the outside of her room, looking in through a glass window, and she could talk to them on the speaker system. She wanted to be out of the hospital, and living her life as if none of this had occurred, but she knew that was impossible.

Katie often wondered what would happen to her when she was able to go home, and who would take her in. She wanted to stay in England, but she was not sure whom she would stay with. Katrina had to rely on God for answers and comfort every day.

"I never meant to hurt them!" Trent said, "I just wanted to scare them."

"But you did the right thing, Trent," Richard Maxwell replied.

"You said this would help; that I would feel better!" Trent shot, "You tricked me!"

"Trent, you have to trust me, not as your leader, but as your friend."

"But how does this help our cause?"

"If you stay with me, Trent, I will train you in the ways of the cause. You will understand in time."

5


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

The road to recovery

After spending four long months in the hospital Katie was ready to go home, if she could, and if she had a home to go to. Katrina had only one family member in England; her mother's sister Margaret Carnegie. Unfortunately, Katie's aunt seemed to despised her niece. It wasn't that Margaret hated her niece. She hated Katie's father and his relatives. She had always seen the Sloans as a stuck up family who always wanted to be better than everyone else. This was not true, but Margaret believed it, and that was all she needed to convince herself that it was true. Because Katie had the last name of Sloan instead of Carnegie, Katie's Aunt Meg had grown to despise her niece. Now it seemed that Katie was doomed to live under her aunt's roof. "At least I'll be able to finish high school here in England," Katie thought.

Finally, after six painful months of healing, Katie was released from the hospital, and moved into her Aunt Meg's home in Bristol. Thankfully, it was close to the high school that Katie was attending, and Meg Carnegie was more than willing to send her niece away to school every day.

The next year of high school was miserable for Katrina. Not only was she struggling to keep her grades up, but her aunt was making life miserable. She never told Katie that she loved her, and frequently called her niece a worthless, good-for-nothing child. Meg never beat her niece, at least not literally, but she never passed up an opportunity to give the girl a good tongue lashing. Katie struggled through her life in her aunt's home day by day. The only thing that allowed her to not become completely overwhelmed, was her faith and daily dependence on God.

Finally, just as Katrina thought it couldn't get any worse, Margaret gave her niece a tongue lashing that would scar the girl for life. Katie was studying for an up-coming senior final, when she heard her aunt call, "Katrina, please come in here."

Katrina obeyed instantly out of fear. She hurried into the library where her aunt sat with an older gentleman dressed in a black suit. The man had a black leather briefcase at his feet and had papers strewn all over the coffee table. He looked to Katrina like some sort of social worker.

Katie stood quietly as her aunt introduced her visitor. "Katrina, this is Mr. Johnston. He's the social worker in charge of the girls' home in London."

Katie's eyes flashed with anger as she realized what her aunt was telling her. She was being sent to an orphanage! Katrina's thoughts began to come so quickly, that they hardly made sense. "Where am I to be sent? What is going to happen? Aunt Meg can't do this to me!"

Katie didn't remember much about the visit with the social worker except for the seemingly endless questions that he asked, and the various comments that were made about her. "She's a bit old to be living here," "Scrawny isn't she?" "Don't know that she is adoptable material," and worst of all, "These orphans are worthless, especially this one. The only home that will take her is in America. They'll take any trash I throw at them."

As the social worker said these things, Meg watched with a cruel satisfaction as she noticed the hot tears flowing down Katrina's cheeks. "I can get rid of this girl," she thought, "and I can even ship her out of the country and never have to worry about the little scum again."

Finally, Katie couldn't stand it anymore. She rushed out of the room, fearing that if she remained in the room another moment her red-headed temper would get the better of her. She didn't care if her aunt scolded her for leaving. Katie just wanted to run. She wanted to be anywhere but in the house now. Katie knew she wasn't allowed to leave, and as much as she wanted to disobey her aunt, she couldn't break a household rule. Katie ran upstairs to her room, slammed the door, threw herself on the bed and began to sob.

Had she realized what her aunt was doing downstairs, Katrina would have been horrified, and surely lost her temper. Meg Carnegie was treating Katrina as if she was her prized possession, and that it was so painful to send "her" baby away. She acted as though she loved Katie with all her heart and the social worker fell for the lie hook, line, and sinker. He promised Margaret that Katie would be taken care of, and he gave her the choice of where Katie would be sent in America. The social worker said that there was no room to board Katie in London, but at her Aunt's request, she was to be sent to Los Angeles, California. Meg seemed to be devastated that she had to send the girl so far away, but gave her consent. In all actuality, Meg was overjoyed. Little did she know, God had big plans for Katrina in LA, and Margaret was only helping those plans along.

Meg acted as though she loved Katie, but when the social worker left, Meg's attitude toward her niece changed drastically. As she climbed the stairwell to tell Katie where she was to be sent, Meg congratulated herself for the perfect plan that she had come up with. When she reached the door to Katrina's room, she opened it and coldly said, "Well, don't just lie there sobbing like a ninny. Go back to your studying. It's not like I'm shipping you out tonight or anything. You won't be leaving for America until you have finished this last year of high school."

Katrina lifted a tear-streaked face and her eyes flashed with anger as she spoke. "Do you mean to tell me that you are going to ship me off to America like an unwanted package? Is this your way of taking care of your family?"

"You ungrateful wretch! If it wasn't for me, you would have had no home to live in these last three years. You would have dropped out of school and become a street urchin. No one wants you, Katrina, so you had best get that thought into your head now. You heard the social worker. All you orphans are unwanted trash. Especially you." Meg paused for a moment, and smiled with satisfaction as she watched her niece's face pale. "That's right, Katrina," she continued, "You are nothing but unwanted trash. Not even your own uncle in America will want you. That's why he hasn't contacted you. Although it's just as well that he hasn't."

"How can you say that?" Katie challenged defiantly.

"Because your father and his family were, and still are, a bunch of stuck-up snobs who think that they're so much better then us Carnegies because they're so wealthy. They're a group of good-for-nothing people," Meg paused a moment before continuing to make sure that Katrina was getting everything that she was telling her.

"The only reason I took you in was because I'm your aunt. Now that was a mistake from the beginning! You have less Carnegie and more Sloan in you than I have ever seen in any one person. I don't want anything to do with those stuck-up Sloans or you for that matter," her aunt said coldly.

"How dare you talk about my family that way!" Katrina snapped.

"Katrina! If you don't learn to control that temper that matches your red hair, you'll never get anywhere in life," Aunt Meg said, "Now go finish your studying. You have a big test tomorrow."

Katrina shot a cold stare at her aunt and replied coolly, "I'll finish my work once you have left my room. And as for who's stuck-up, and cold-hearted, the Carnegies have no one who could possibly top them. I don't know why you hate me, Aunt Meg, but I'll have you know that even though you are doing a wicked thing to me, I will never hate you. I am grateful for what you have done for me, but I think that I will move over to my old house until I leave for America. You shouldn't mind because you don't care for me anyway."

"That's fine with me. I say good riddance to you. It's you house anyway, and the sooner I get rid of you, the better. You can move all of your things tomorrow. Goodnight, Katrina," Meg replied coldly.

After Meg closed the door behind her, Katie threw herself onto the bed and began to cry.

The next day at school, Katie relayed what had happened the night before to her closest friend, Mary. "Katie, that's awful! When do you have to go?"

"Well, I'm moving back to my own home tonight, and I leave for America the week after graduation."

"What will I do without you? We've grown up together, and I don't think that I can bear college without you, Katrina!"

"Mary, you'll be fine. I'm going to write to you at least twice a week, and I can always e-mail you."

"Do you think someone will adopt you?"

"I'm hoping to get in contact with my Uncle Mark, and his son, Steve, once I reach LA. I don't know if they'll take me, but it's worth a try."

"I'll pray for you every time I think of you, Katie."

"I appreciate it, Mary. Now come on. We're going to be late for classes."

By the end of the day, everyone seemed to know that Katie was leaving. Katie was bombarded with questions, which she calmly answered. She talked to her friends about the situation and explained all of the details that she could.

All things considered, Katie's day really wasn't bad. She didn't cry the entire day, until her best friend, and high school sweetheart, Peter Barry, walked her home. He helped her move all of her belongings into her home, and comforted her on the way. The two friends took the long way to Katrina's home, so that they could spend as much time as they could together.

Peter and Katrina talked about all that had happened since they were children: the meeting in the sandbox, playing together in Sunday school, the time between the fourth and sixth grades when they thought that girls and boys liking each other was gross, and finally noticing each other again in ninth grade. Then there were the picnics on the hills behind the Sloan's home, the "unofficial dates", and moonlight rides.

They laughed and cried about all of the memories they had together, and finally, Peter dropped Katie off at her home, and said goodbye. Although she would not be leaving for two weeks, Katie had a hard time saying goodbye to her best friend.

Katie continued to work hard on her school work, so she could finish at the top of her classes. As finals ended and report cards were passed out, Katie saw that she had tied with someone else in her class for valedictorian. At first Katie was disappointed at the fact that she hadn't done well enough. As she glanced at her report card lost in thought, Katie felt a tap on her shoulder. She looked up to see Peter smiling down at her. "Could we be any closer to _Anne of Green Gables_, Carrots? We tied just like Anne and Gilbert."

Katie smiled. "Well, "Gill", I don't think we could, but couldn't you let your Carrots beat you on just one test?"

"I like you a lot, Katie, but not that much. I think you should have sacrificed a test question for me," Peter teased, "You want to go to lunch with me after school? It's half day, you know."

"I'd love to, Peter. I'll meet you out at the front gate after school."

"See you later."

Katie smiled. Tying with Peter wasn't too bad. They had both worked hard for that grade. Katie glanced at her watch. It was eleven o'clock, and she didn't have any more classes to go to. "I think I'll go see Mrs. Stevens. I have to say goodbye to her," Katie said to herself.

Katrina smiled as she thought of her favorite teacher. Mrs. Stevens had taught Katie in elementary, and in high school, but Katie had known her since second grade. Mrs. Stevens was not only a wonderful teacher, but one of Katie's most trusted mentors, and closest friends.

When she reached Mrs. Stevens' room, Katrina peaked in and saw that her friend was not teaching a class, so she softly knocked on the door. Emily Stevens looked up from her desk and motioned for Katie to enter.

"Good afternoon, Katie!" Mrs. Stevens greeted her young friend warmly.

"Good afternoon. I had to talk to you before I left this school for the last time," Katie said with a sad smile.

"Of course, Love. I always have time to talk to you. What's on your mind?"

Katrina smiled and began to talk to Mrs. Stevens about everything that she was thinking about. She asked questions about what to expect in America, and how to handle her situation. Mrs. Stevens provided the answers and counsel she could.

What Katie liked the most about Mrs. Stevens' counsel, was that it wasn't only hers. Emily Stevens often directed her students to God's Word for counsel and guidance. Emily never wanted her students to take her word above God's.

After an hour of talking, laughing, and crying together, the two friends finally said goodbye. Katie left Mrs. Stevens' office promising to write every week. As Katie walked down the hall with all of her belongings, she vigorously wiped the tears from her cheeks. She wanted to remember everything about the school that she had attended since kindergarten; the big heavy oak doors, the dark gray metal lockers, the chipped, yet always clean, tile floors.

Katrina stopped in front of the principal's office and smiled. She had many memories of that office, and actually, they weren't bad. Katie had often gone to the principal's office just to say hello to him, and give him a smile to brighten his day.

Katrina finally reached the front door, and turned around for one final look at her school. Katie tried to act as though everything was as it usually was, but in the back of her mind was a nagging thought; "You are unwanted trash, and you're being sent away in two weeks."

As tears began to flow down her cheeks again, Katie hurried out the door, and ran to the front gate to meet Peter. She smiled as he beeped the horn of his fancy American convertible and pulled up to the curb. He got out of the car and walked around to open the door for Katie. After she got in, he walked back around to the other side of the car, and got into the driver's seat.

"Peter, where are we going?" Katie questioned.

"You'll see."

"Oh, come on. Please tell me."

"No, you just have to wait and see."

After a few minutes, Peter pulled up to Katie's home, and parked. "We're going to have a picnic like old times, m'lady," Peter said.

"Oh, Peter, you're so sweet."

The two friends spent several hours on the hills behind Katrina's home. They first planned a party that Katie was going to hold for her friends the next week, then they just enjoyed each other's company. As it began to get dark, Peter walked Katrina to the house, and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"I'll see you soon," he said.

Katie, began to cry again, and could only nod in response.

The night of the party was the hardest for Katie, because she knew that she had to say goodbye to all of her friends. Around eleven o'clock that night, after all the guests had left, Katie walked up to her room and began to pray.

"Lord, thank you for loving me no mater what. Please, keep me safe tomorrow as I leave for America. I don't want to go, Lord Jesus, but I know that you must have a plan in all of this. Please help me to understand that. Help me to sleep well tonight, and give me a peace about this situation, in Jesus' name, amen."

The next morning, Katrina finished her final packing, and waited for the taxi to pick her up to take her to the airport. As she waited, she pulled out her diary and began to write.

_Dear Diary,_

_Today is the last day that I will ever see my beloved England again. I will be sent to an orphanage as soon as I reach America. I don't know anyone there, except my Uncle Mark and cousin, Steve. I hope to contact them when I reach LA. For now, all I can do is pray and trust God for the strength I need. The taxi has just pulled up to the curb so I will close for now. I 'm sure that I will have more to say once I am on the plane. Well, here we go._

_Yours Truly,_

_Katrina Evangeline Sloan_

Katie's eyes filled with tears as the taxi driver helped her to load her things into the trunk of the car, and drove her away from her beloved childhood home. She didn't want to leave England. This was all that she knew! She knew no one would want her in America.

The only chance that she had of staying out of an orphan's home was to reach her Uncle James at Community General Hospital where he worked. Perhaps he would take her in. Maybe Aunt Meg was wrong, and someone really did love her. He had always promised to make her a doctor there someday. Maybe now was the time. She could work at the hospital, and live with her uncle and cousin "I hope I can reach them," Katie thought.

When Katie reached the airport, she was pleasantly surprised to see Peter there. He had wanted to surprise her by seeing her off.He helped her check in her bags, and walked her to the gate.

"So when does your plane leave?" Peter asked for the seventh time that morning.

"At ten o'clock. I still have three hours. You aren't worried about me are you?" Katie asked with a smile.

"Oh, no!" Peter replied sarcastically.

"I'll be fine, Peter. I'm just sorry that you can't come with me."

"I'll keep in touch. I hope to get into medical school soon, but I don't think that I'll come to America to study with you even though I would love to. I've been offered a job here as an intern at the London Hope Hospital. Some day, I'll be a doctor by your side."

"Really? You want to work with me even though we've been rivals all through school?"

"Where ever you are is where I want to be, Trina."

"Peter, you know I hate that nickname," Katrina scolded.

"Which is why I love using it," Peter teased.

Katrina and Peter talked until it was time for Katie's plane to leave. The two friends cried as they had to say their final good-byes, and Katie almost didn't get onto the plane. She finally boarded, however, and was on her way to her new life in America.

Katie slept for a few hours of the flight, but most of the way, she made conversation with a lady who sat to her left. Katie found out that the older lady was a grandmother of five. She had been visiting them in England, and was headed home. When Katrina asked where her home was, the lady told her it was on the beach near LA.

"Really?" Katie asked, "That's where I'm headed."

"Do you have family there?"

"Yes. I'm hoping to live with my uncle and cousin."

"So are your parents already there?"

Katie smiled sadly at the lady. "No, my parents and my sister died in a fire four years ago. My uncle is the only family that I have left, and I haven't been able to get in contact with him. He doesn't even know that I'm coming. I'm actually going to a girls' home."

"Oh, I am sorry."

"Oh, it's all right," Katie stopped and thought for a minute. "This could lead to an opportunity to witness to this lady," she thought. "My family is in a better place now."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, my parents knew that when they died, they would go to heaven. When they were both little children, they accepted Jesus Christ as their savior."

"Can you explain that?"

"Yes, Ma'am, I can."

Katie pulled out her Bible and began to show her seat mate how she could become a Christian. The lady had many questions, and Katie was glad that the flight was long so she could take the time to fully answer each one. Katrina talked with her new acquaintance for almost three hours, and after that time, Katie had the privilege to lead her to Christ. After the lady looked up from praying, she smiled.

"I have never felt so peaceful before. Thank you."

"Don't thank me," Katie smiled, "Thank Jesus."

"You know, I never got your name. I'm Mrs. Sarah Madison."

"I'm Katrina Sloan."

Mrs. Madison stared at Katie. "What did you say your last name was?"

"Sloan."

"Katrina, you're going to think this is crazy, but I am the care taker at the Stonewall Girls' Home where you are being sent."

Katie only smiled. Only God could have planned something so wonderful. The rest of the trip was so enjoyable. Katie had a new Christian friend, and she knew that God was going to take care of her.

Mrs. Madison took Katie to the orphanage, and helped her carry all of her things into the building. She gave Katie a room right next to her own, and introduced her to the other girls, who immediately took a liking to Katie. Mrs. Madison promised Katie that she would do everything that she could to make the home feel like a home instead of an orphanage.

Over the next few months, Mrs. Madison did everything she could to help heal the damage that had been done in Katie's life. One day, however, she saw that something was still bothering her beloved Katrina.

"Katie, something's troubling you. What is it?"

"Mrs. Madison, you have been so wonderful to me, but I wish that I could be with my Uncle Mark. I know he would truly love me, and take me in, but I have no way of

contacting him."

"Where does he live, my dear? I will do everything I can to get you two together again."

"I'm not exactly sure where he lives, but I do know that he works at Community General Hospital."

"Katrina, you are in luck. That hospital is not far from here, and I am going there today for some tests. You are welcome to accompany me if you would like."

"That would be wonderful!" Katie said.

"Good. I will call there now, and let them know that you are coming with me," Mrs. Madison said as she briskly walked out of the room to make her phone calls. Katie hurried into the next room to tell her friends that she may be going to see her uncle that afternoon.

"Katie, I'm so happy for you!" one girl said.

Another piped up, "I'll miss you, Katie, but I hope you get adopted."

Later that day, Katie was standing in front of her uncle's office. His secretary, Delores let her in. Katie stood staring at all of the books he had in his library. As she looked around, her eyes fell on a picture of her parents and herself.

"That was a long time ago," Katie said to herself, "I was only five in this picture!"

"And look at my precious angel now. Isn't she beautiful!" said a voice from behind her. Katrina whirled around to see her Uncle standing in the doorway, while Mrs. Madison stood behind him smiling. Katie ran to her uncle and started to cry. He held her in his arms and said, "Its okay, baby. You're safe now."

Katrina began to explain to her uncle, everything that had happened to her during the last three years. As she talked, she shared her fears, thoughts, hopes and dreams with him. This was the first time that she had felt comfortable sharing so much with someone since her parents were killed. Katie didn't realize it at first, but she was beginning to feel at home here.

Mark walked over to the window seat with Katie as the young girl continued talking. As Mark sat quietly listening, he began to see what damage had been done in his sweet little niece's life, and began to think of how he could help her. He listened patiently to all that she said, and when she had finished, he said, "Well, Katrina, no matter what you have been told in the past, I love you, and I always will. You will always have a home with me."

"Thank you, Uncle Mark." Katie moved closer to her uncle and leaned up against him. After a moment of silence, she sighed.

"What is it Kate?"

"Uncle Mark, is it true that orphans are worthless trash?" Katie asked after a long pause.

"No! Where in the world would you get that idea?"

"Aunt Meg told me that."

"No, Katie. You are not unwanted trash by any means!"

"Good," Katie said with a smile. She was soon talking about all sorts of different topics with her uncle. They talked about school, and what Katrina wanted to do for college; what their favorite games and pastimes were; their favorite foods, pets, books, and every other possible favorite thing; and anything else that they had to catch up on since they had last seen each other. After a few hours had passed, Katie was disappointed when she learned that she would have to go back to the orphanage that night. Mark assured her that he would file for her adoption as soon as he could.

Katie went back to Stonewall Girls' Home that night, happier than she had been in years. She now knew that she was loved, and that she would soon have a home to go to. Katie prayed and thanked her heavenly Father that night for taking care of her so well. She felt so peaceful as she laid down that night, that sleep came easily.

Katrina stayed at the girls' home for three more weeks until the paper work could be signed for her adoption. Waiting was the hardest thing the she faced at that time. She prayed constantly for patience to wait for God's timing.

Katrina was glad that during her wait, she was able to help Mrs. Madison grow in her Christian walk. Katie taught her friend how to do her devotions daily, and learn more about her Savior. Katie was thrilled to see Mrs. Madison begin to love her relationship with God even more than she had when she was first saved.

During her last three weeks at the home, Katrina also built friendships with the other girls. She soon found that the waiting was easier when she had friends with whom she could spend her time.

Finally the day came when Katie was able to go home. She was so excited to see what God had in store for her, and she didn't want to wait any longer to find out.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

A new life, and a new friend

Katrina looked around the court room. She was surrounded by friends and family who had gathered to see her adoption take place. The judge smiled as she signed the final papers, and said, "I wish that I could have cases like this more often. I would rather see children placed into good homes, than send criminals to jail." Everyone clapped and cheered when the judge said that Katie was officially a part of Mark Sloan's house hold.

After the court meeting, the Sloans went with family and friends to celebrate at Barbecue Bob's, a restaurant owned by Steve and Doctor Jesse Travis, who was a close friend of Mark, and one of the doctors at Community General.

Katrina sat at a large, round table with Mark and several of the doctors from the hospital. Mark liked to refer to these doctors as his core group. Next to Katie sat Doctor Amanda Bentley. She was in charge of the autopsies at the hospital, but could occasionally be found working elsewhere. Next to Amanda was Jesse Travis. He worked in the ER most of the time. Next was Steve. Although he was not a doctor, he was considered part of the core because he was around the hospital so much. Amanda always said that it was because he got free food, but really, he was often there for police work. Mark, who was a police consultant, Amanda, and Jesse were often recruited to help Steve with his job, and therefore, he was at the hospital a lot. Finally, Mark sat on the other side of Katrina.

"So, Katie, what do you want to study in college?" Amanda asked.

"I'd like to be a doctor, but Steve says that I ought to be a police officer. He says that's what I always wanted to be when I was younger, but I don't ever remember saying that," Katie replied as she grinned at her cousin.

"Well, maybe you didn't exactly say it, but you did say it would be fun," Steve shrugged.

"Not as much fun as the medical field," Jesse put in.

"Do you know where you are going to study?" Amanda asked directing the conversation back to Katie.

"Not yet. I'd like to stay close to home, so that if an internship pops up at Community General, I'll be able to take it."

"We usually have three or four spots open every year. I'll pull some strings for you," Mark said.

Katrina spent the rest of the evening with her friends. She had a fantastic time, and got to know some of the doctors at the hospital better. When Katie got to the Sloan's home, the reality struck; this was her home now. She could go up to her room, and lay down on her bed. It was a wonderful feeling to know that she belonged somewhere once again.

Three weeks after her adoption, Katrina fell into a daily routine. Each morning she would get ready and walk down stairs to help Mark make breakfast. They would eat together on the balcony that overlooked the beach, and talk. Then when Mark left for work, Katie cleaned up the dishes, and walked down to the beach.

One particular morning while she was down at the water, she began to think about how God had been so good to her. She hadn't seen His plan at first, but now, it had begun to unfold before her eyes. She would soon be enrolled into college and begin studying to become a doctor.

Katie couldn't have possibly planned her life in a better way. She couldn't imagine living anywhere else. As she sat there, the words of her youth pastor in England came to mind: "The best place that you can be is in the center of God's will. There is no better plan, and there you will find true peace and joy." Of course Katie missed her friends in England, but she couldn't have been happier.

After her devotions one morning, Katrina pulled a piece of paper out of her notebook, and began to write to Mary. "I want to describe all that has happened to me over the past few weeks," Katie thought to herself. Katrina began to write down everything that she could think of. Finally about halfway through the letter, Katie described America:

...Oh Mary, you ought to see it! I know you have never been out of England, and I know you said you never wanted to leave, but you must come visit me sometime if, for no other reason than to experience America. The people are so full of energy, and they are always busy. There is never a dull moment, and you never get bored. I must admit, that I do miss my England country side, but the beach that I live on is fantastic. The thought that I actually live here still overwhelms me every day. I do hope that you will be able to see it someday for yourself...

Katie finished her letter by asking her friend to say hello to some dear friends, and that she regretted that she did not have time to write to at the moment. Katie sealed her letter, and walked back up to her house.

She was surprised to see that the morning was almost gone, and it was now 11:30. Katrina had promised Mark that she would meet him for lunch at the hospital, and then have a meeting with Mr. Norman Briggs, the hospital supervisor about an internship position. Katie rushed upstairs to get cleaned up, and hurried out of the door.

Later that afternoon, Katie sat in her uncle's office, explaining all that had gone on in the meeting. She stopped however when Amanda entered the room, and said that she had exciting news.

"Do you remember when I told you about my sister who is your age, Katie?"

"Yes."

"Well, I just got a call from her yesterday."

"And?"

"I have some good news and bad news. The bad new is that my parents both passed away last week."

"Mandy, that's awful! I'm so sorry. Why didn't you know sooner?"

"Well, my sister wasn't able to get a hold of me," Amanda replied, "Anyway, the good news is that my sister Amy will be coming to live with me. She's already been accepted at University of LA to study as a doctor, in the same classes that you have I might add, and she's going to work at Community General as an intern at the same time you do."

Katie smiled. "Here? Another girl my age working here?" she asked excitedly.

Amanda smiled and nodded. "I'll be leaving tomorrow to help her get everything settled, and I plan to be back in two months with her. Now, mind you, she's shy, so don't be surprised if she doesn't talk to you right away."

"Oh, I'm sure we'll get along fine, Mandy. Something tells me that we'll get along just fine," Katie said.

Amy Cartwright sat with her friend Sadie, who was the pastor's daughter in the church the Cartwright's attended. Unshed tears threatened to fall down both girls' cheeks. Sadie placed her arm around her friend's shoulders, and said softly, "I'm going to miss you. Do you have to leave me tomorrow?"

"I wish I didn't," Amy replied, "I don't know anyone in LA. I just want to stay here in Colorado with you."

"Didn't Amanda say that she had a friend back at the hospital that wanted to meet you?"

"Yeah, she said that she was an English girl my own age. Katrina, I think her name is. Mandy says that she needs a friend. I guess she's been through a lot. Although I can't imagine anyone going through anything worse than I have."

"You have no idea what Katie's been through, Amy," Amanda said as she walked up behind her sister.

"Hi, Mandy," Amy replied half heartily.

"You sound as if I'm about to kill you or something. I know you didn't want to leave, But I know that you will like LA, and the people you are going to meet."

"Oh joy, people!"

"Amy, you'll be fine. Meeting people isn't always that bad," Sadie laughed.

The two friends, who had known each other all of their lives realized that it was time to say good bye for the last time. They both cried together, and hugged each other. Finally, Amy forced herself to walk away with Amanda, leaving her best friend standing at the front of the church.

The two sisters walked to their car, and drove home. They both made final preparations for the long journey to LA, then sat down in the family room together. They talked, cried, and prayed together about the new life that they would each be starting. If anything, the death of their parents had brought the two girls closer together.

"Mandy, what has Katrina been though?" Amy asked her sister as she finished packing one of her bags.

"Well, her parents and her little sister were killed in a fire when Katie was fourteen, and Katie was badly burned. Then she lived with her aunt who hated her, called her worthless trash, and after three years, sent Katie to the orphanage in LA. Katie was forced to leave all that she knew, like you are having to do. Thankfully, she was able to contact her uncle Mark, and he adopted her. The reason I said that she needed a friend, is because a lot of damage has been done in her life, and I thought that both of you could help each other heal. She is over joyed to meet you, Amy. So what do you say, I guess if you will hate me forever, you can stay here, but I think that you'll break a little English red-head's heart."

"I don't know how to say this, Amanda, but I think that I'll really like Katie. I'll go with you." Amy said with a smile.

Finally, both Amanda and Amy went to bed to be to rest up for the long trip that they had ahead of them the next day.

Katrina sat at her favorite table in the doctor's lounge awaiting the arrival of Amanda and Amy. She could hardly wait to meet Amy, and she nervously drummed her fingers on the table. "I hope she'll like me," Katie thought, "At lest she never knew what it was like to be an orphan long enough for people to tell her that she was worthless."

To keep her mind off of her nervousness, Katie began to draw a picture of a Siberian husky. "I've always wanted one of these," Katie thought.

As Katrina sat day dreaming, and drawing, a pretty, shy girl came into the room. "Go on!" said Amanda as she pushed her sister into the room, "She won't bite you."

Katie rose from her seat, and slowly approached the timid girl in front of her. "Hi! You must be Amy," she said, "I'm Katrina Sloan. Mandy's told me so much about you."

"What exactly has she said?" Amy questioned with a smile.

"Oh, nothing much. Just that you were a wonderful sister, and that she couldn't wait for us to meet. She told me what you looked like, and things like that."

"Well, Mandy told me that you were quite talkative, and I can see she was right." Amy teased.

Katrina blushed as she realized that in her excitement, she had said more than she had intended. Amy smiled and said that she didn't mind.

Within a few minutes, Katie had Amy out of her shell, and both girls were talking as if they had been best friends for years. Amanda smiled as she left the room to allow the girls to get acquainted.

The two girls found that they had a lot in common. They both loved to play the flute, they had both always loved dogs, and they both wanted to take acting lessons. The most important similarity between them was that they were Christians, and loved the Lord.

Over the next month, the two girls became the best of friends. Amy constantly asked Katie about England, and never tired of hearing about it. Katie on the other hand wanted to know about America, so the girls exchanged stories, and day by day built their relationship closer together. Neither girl had realized how much they needed a close friend, yet when they got together, the hearts that had been broken began to heal.

Both girls were exceptionally smart when it came to their studies in school, and they learned quickly. They often had competitions with each other to see who would get a higher grade on a test or a quiz. Katrina enjoyed the competitions because they reminded her of how she used to compete with Peter in England.

One day as the girls sat studying on the deck at the Sloan's home, Amy looked up from her book and smiled.

"Tell me about Peter, Kitty Kat."

"What?" Katie looked up with a puzzled look on her face.

"I said tell me about Peter."

"Why?"

"Because I want to know. What was he like? Is he handsome? Did you like him for a long time? Did he treat you like his princess? Does he still treat you like his princess?"

"My, aren't we nosy today?" Katie laughed.

"So, are you going to tell me about him or not?"

"Okay, okay. He's tall and very handsome. He has dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes. He's very sweet, and yes, he treats me like his princess to this day. He still writes a letter to me every week, and he emails me every day. He plays the piano, and he wants to become a doctor in England for a while, then move here, and get a job at Community General. Then he wants to marry me, and make me settle down somewhere and care for his kids and make him a feast every night."

"He must love you very much."

"Yes, I think he does. He's wanted to marry me ever since we were little."

"Okay. Let's get back to studying."

"What do you mean 'let's get back to studying'? I tell you all that, and just like that, after you've pried your little fingers into my personal life, you want to get back to studying?"

"Yes." Amy answered matter-of-factly.

"You're horrid! You aren't going to tell me anything about your private life?"

"Okay, The only man that I ever loved was my father, and I don't like talking to any other guys. They scare me."

"So you don't want to ever get married?"

"Oh, sure I do, but I won't talk to the guy until I know he is the right one. Even then he'll still scare me."

"Amy, you crack me up," Katie replied with a grin.

"Okay, look at question number three. How do you do that one again?" Amy asked as she looked down at her book.

The girls spend the rest of the night talking and studying together, and boys were not brought up again. Katie on the other hand, could not stop thinking about Peter. "Does he still love me, or has he found someone else?" she wondered. "Will he really come to America and marry me?"

That night after Amy had gone home, Katie walked down to the beach to think. It was dark, but the stars shone so brightly, that it seemed to be daylight. "Peter," Katrina said to herself, "will you always love me like you said you would? Promise me that you will not ever forget me. Promise me that you'll always love me, and that you'll come and work by my side like you promised. I miss you so much, and I wish you were by my side now. Trent is still writing to me, and he still says that he will have me as his wife. Peter, what am I going to do? I don't love him, but he just doesn't understand. I wish you were here. Oh, and about that settling down so that I can take care of the children while you go out and provide for the family, I don't think that I can settle down. Working at the hospital has become the love of my life, except for you of course. You'll just have to find some other way for the kids to be taken care of. And as for that feast that I'm to prepare the king of the castle, that plan's going to have to change too." Katie laughed softly and sighed before she continued, "I miss you so much, Peter. Do come to me soon, Love. I pray for you and Mary everyday, and I hope that you are doing the same for me. I love you."

Katie slowly walked back to the house, and went up to her room. It was late, and her uncle and cousin were already asleep. She quickly got changed, and climbed into bed. Sweet memories of England filled Katie's thoughts as she fell asleep that night.

8


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Plus one makes the Three Musketeers

The next day marked the one year anniversary of Amy's arrival at Community General. Katie came running up to her friend during one of their breaks with the biggest smile on her face, and Amy knew that her friend had some exciting news.

"Amy did you hear the news?" Katie asked.

"Apparently not."

"We're getting a new intern from Russia tomorrow! Her name is Annetka, and she's going to live in the same apartment complex as Jesse and..."

"A new intern from Russia?" Amy interrupted.

"Yes! I can't wait. Uncle Mark asked me to go shopping and fill up her refrigerator to make sure she'll have everything that she needs, and I was wondering if you want to go with me."

"I'd love to! I'll meet you in the doctor's lounge in an hour. I'll be off of my shift then," Amy said, "Katie, this is great! Not only have I known you for a year, but we are getting another intern to add to our camaraderie."

"Don't use such big words, Amy. It's been a long day, and you're confusing me."

"Camaraderie, you know, friendship, group, click..."

"I know what it means!" Katrina interrupted.

"Just checking. Well, I'll meet up with you later."

"Sounds great. See you later."

An hour and a half later, the two friends were stocking up Annetka's refrigerator with everything that they had bought. They were both talking excitedly about what they thought Annetka would be like.

"I wonder if she experienced anything with the Communists." Amy wondered aloud.

"Well, she did live in Russia," Katie replied, "I suppose anyone from there experienced communism in one form or another."

"Does she speak English?" Amy said.

"I'm sure she does. Uncle Mark has talked to her several times on the phone, and he says that although her English is broken, she's mostly understandable. He says that she'll learn in time," Katie replied.

"I wonder what life has been like for her. I don't think anyone has had it as bad as you, Kat."

"I don't know. She lived in communist Russia, as we've said before, and I've been told that life has not been kind to our Russian intern."

"Is she only going to be an intern, or will she become staff after a while?"

"I don't know. I think she has to get her license in America first. At least that's what Uncle Mark said."

When the girls had finished stocking the refrigerator, Amy wrote a quick note to the new intern, and placed it and a note from Jesse on the refrigerator door. As the two girls left, they talked excitedly about the next day, and what they thought would happen.

The next day, Amy and Katrina sat in the doctors' lounge in the same place that they had met each other. They were surrounded by friends who were all waiting for the new intern.

"I hope Annetka gets the note that you put in her locker, Kat," Amy said.

"I'm sure she will. Uncle Mark should be here with her any time now!" Katrina said impatiently. Once again, Katie sat drawing to keep her mind off of her nervousness. Amy commented on the picture, and gave hints on how to improve it.

Soon, Mark walked into the lounge, and a tall Russian girl walked in behind him. Katrina greeted her with her usual happiness, yet was careful not to overwhelm the girl with a flood of words as she had with Amy. "Hi, I'm Katrina Sloan. You must be Annetka. Welcome!"

"Da," Annetka said, her Russian accent was thick and she struggled with English, "Thanks. I'm happy to finally be here."

Katie smiled, and said, "Let me introduce you to everyone, Annetka. This is Amanda Bentley. She is in charge of the autopsies here. Jesse Travis works in ER, you'll probably work with him most of the time."

"I live right below you in the apartments," Jesse said.

Annetka smiled and nodded, "So you are the one who put the note on my refrigerator."

"I'm Amy, Amanda's sister," Amy interrupted, "I work mostly in the Maternity Ward, but I'm finishing up my degree so that I can work where ever I'm needed."

Steve stood up and introduced himself, "Annetka, I'm Steve Sloan. I'm not a doctor here, I'm actually a police officer, but I pop in here quiet a bit though. I'm Katie's cousin."

"He just comes for the free food that we give him," Amanda said teasingly.

"I'm so happy to meet all of you," Annetka laughed.

Just as quickly as Amy and Katie had become friends, Annetka joined the group, and they formed and inseparable bond of friendship. Annetka felt right at home with Amy and Katie, and had no trouble fitting into her new life style. She enjoyed her new life as an American, and was constantly learning and growing.

Several months later, Katie walked into her uncle's office and flopped down on the couch. "Finally some peace and quiet," she said to herself. Just then a voice was heard from the adjacent office. "You look awfully tired darlin'. Are you having a rough day?" The voice belonged to Delores, Mark's secretary. She had become a dear, and Katrina loved coming in and talking to her.

"Delores, you have no idea!"

"Try me."

"It seems that every time Uncle Mark leaves the hospital for even an hour, things seen to go wrong. This has been the busiest day this year, the ER has been flooded with people, and to top it all off, all of the doctors and nurses are in a bad mood. Well, all except for Amy and Annetka."

"Well, Honey, I'll let you know the moment that Mark walks in that door."

"Thanks, Delores."

"Any time."

"I have to get back to work, but just a few seconds of peace was all that I needed. See you later."

No sooner had Katrina walked out of the office door, when she was paged. _Katrina Sloan, Please report to the emergency room immediately._

"Never a moment of rest," Katrina laughed as she ran down the hallway. She never could have imagined what she was about to see, however.

When she turned the corner, Katrina stopped short and stared. There were about fifteen children with cuts and bruises huddled in small groups on the floor. Amy and Annetka were working with them along with a few other doctors from pediatrics. There were also two adults with life threatening injuries lying on the tables. Jesse was working feverishly to save them, and Katie rushed over to help.

After asking a few quick questions, Katie learned that a bus, whose driver was one of the adults being treated, collided with a car, causing a severe accident. The driver of the car was killed on impact. One of the passengers in the car was the other adult being treated.

Several hours and three emergency surgeries later, Katrina slowly walked out of the ER and into the doctor's lounge. She was exhausted, and ready to go home. As she entered the lounge, she was greeted by Amy and Annetka.

"Rough day?" Annetka asked.

"Yeah, and it's not over yet," Katie replied.

"What do you mean 'It's not over yet'?" Amy asked.

"I have another shift in a few minutes. I'm just taking a quick break," Katrina said.

"You can't do that! You're just an intern," Annetka said.

"Katrina Evangeline Sloan, You'll kill yourself! You haven't had any sleep in the past forty-eight hours," Amy exclaimed.

"It's not my fault that we're short on help around here," Katrina laughed, "I'll be fine."

"Sure you will," Amy said sarcastically, "And next week you'll be in the hospital as my patient."

"No, I won't," Katie replied.

"Okay, but do try to get some rest tonight," Annetka said, "I'll see you two later, I'm going home."

The next day at the hospital was no different then the day before. There were just as many people needing care, if not more, and the staff seemed to be crankier than ever before. Katie was so busy that she didn't see any of her friends until the end of the day when she entered the doctor's lounge. She stumbled into the room, and sat down on the window seat at the back of the room. She pulled out a letter from Mary that she had received the day before, but had left unopened. Katie had several questions that she needed answered, and she hoped to find out what she needed to know in this letter. Peter had stopped writing, and Katie couldn't seem to reach him. She also hadn't heard from some other friends, and wanted to know about them. After carefully lifting the seal, she began to scan the page.

About halfway into the letter, something caught Katie's eye, and caused her to read the paragraph again to make sure she had read it correctly the first time. She looked up after reading it the second time and unshed tears welled up in her eyes. Katie couldn't believe what she had just read.

_...To answer your last letter, I'm doing well, and I'm happily studying to be a teacher at the University of Cambridge. My family is doing well, and Mother sends her love. I dearly miss you, and hope that you will come to see me someday soon._

_Now as to why Peter has not written to you lately, is really beyond me. I do however, have a guess. Lately, he has had his eyes set on young lady at school. Personally, I think that she is a stuck up flirt, and I can't see what he sees in her. He always seemed to be in love with you, Katie, and I don't know what's gotten into him. He seems totally taken with this new 'love' and talks as if he will marry her soon. I tried to talk to him, but he just brushed me off, and says that you would understand. Maybe I shouldn't have told you, but I thought you would want to know. Don't let it worry you too much, Katie. He'll come around in time, and he'll see that he loves you more than anyone else..._

"Don't let it bother me? How can I not let it bother me? Peter and I were best friends! Now he hardly writes to me, and when he does, he doesn't put his heart into what he writes. In fact he's been a real jerk to me lately," Katie thought, "If that's the way he's going to be, two can play at that game."

Her thoughts were quickly brought back to the present when she realized the Amanda was talking to her.

"Katrina, you look exhausted. Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Katie said, quickly putting the letter away, "How are you?"

"I'm fine. I don't think that I have been half as busy as you have though."

Katie laughed, "Have you seen your sister?"

"Yes, and she asked me to let you know that you are supposed to meet her at Annetka's apartment tonight if you can," Amanda said.

"Oh, thank you. I forgot that I said that I'd be over there at 5:00 for dinner. I'd better get going."

"All right. See you later."

"Bye, Amanda!" Katie said as she ran out of the door.

As she drove down the road, Katrina's mind raced with thoughts. She was so excited to spend time with Annetka and Amy, but she was worried that Peter had forgotten her. Her thought's whirled around, and she could hardly keep them all straight.

Suddenly, Katie glanced into her rear view mirror, and noticed a car racing toward her. She swerved off the road to get out of the way, barely missing getting hit. Katie tried to get a good look at the driver, but he was going too fast. She turned off her car, and tried to calm down, but she began to cry.

Katie noticed that a police officer had pulled over, and was getting out of his car to check on her. She rolled down her window, and smiled when she saw who the officer was. "Steve, am I glad to see you!" she said with relief.

"Katrina!" Steve said in surprise, "Are you okay, Babe? I saw you swerve off of the road, and I wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Well, for someone who was almost hit, I'm all right. Did you see that guy? He tried to kill me!"

"Yes, I got the license plate number, and I'll look into it. Do you want me to take you to Anya's? I can come back for your car."

"Would you? I don't think I can drive right now. I have to stop shaking first."

Steve took Katie to Annetka's apartment, and walked her up to the door. "I have to get back to work. I'll see you later," he said. "Try to be careful," he added as he gave her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks, Steve; I don't think I'll be in any danger here."

Katie walked up to the door, and rang the bell. Annetka's voice was heard a moment later over the intercom system. "Yes?"

"Hey, Anya, it's Katie. Sorry I'm late."

"That's okay. Come on in."

Katie opened the door, and walked down to Annetka's apartment, where she was greeted warmly. Amy sat on the couch with a bowl of popcorn beside her, and a book in her hand. "It's about time you got here," Amy teased.

"Well, if you would like to hear why I was late, I'll tell you," Katie replied, handing Annetka her purse and jacket.

"Let me put these away," Annetka said, "and then you can tell your story."

Katie walked over to the couch and sat beside Amy. "What are you reading now, Miss. Bentley?"

"All she Ever Wanted by Lynn Austin. It's really good."

Katie smiled as Annetka joined them. "Okay," Katie said, "Here's my story. I'm driving from the hospital, with half a million things on my mind. Suddenly, a car pulls out of a side street, and speeds toward me. I had to swerve to the side of the road to miss being hit. Needless to say, I was shaken. I turned off my car, and tried to catch my breath. Next thing I know, a police officer came up to my car to see if I was alright. The officer just happened to be Steve. Anyway, he drove me here, and said we could pick up the car later."

"Katie, that's awful. Are you okay?" Amy asked.

"I'm fine, now."

"Okay, girls, what's on the agenda for tonight?" Annetka asked.

"Tell your story, Anya," Amy said.

At the mention of a story, Annetka began to laugh. Katie looked at her, confused.

Finally, Annetka stopped laughing, and said, "I'm sorry Katie."

"It's okay, but what's so funny?"

Annetka took a slow breath, and began. "Okay, you remember that I took that part-time job at the coffee shop right? Well, last night, I had a really interesting experience. This really cute guy walked in, and ordered a large mocha. He said his name was Alexi, and being from Russia, I really like that name, so I asked him where he was from. He told me he was born and raised in LA, but his parents were immigrants from Russia."

"Annetka, that is so neat!" Katie said.

"Shhh!" Amy replied, "She's not done yet."

"Anyway," Annetka continued, "Alexi went to a table, and I quickly made his coffee. As I was taking it to him, I didn't notice a chair that was pulled out, tripped, and spilled the drink all over him. At first we were both in complete shock. I jumped to my feet, and began to apologize, but Alexi just laughed. He helped me clean it up, and asked me where I was from. I guess he noticed my accent. After I told him a little about myself, he said he would like to get to know me, and asked if he could come by the shop next week."

"Anya's got a date!" Amy said.

"It's not a date. I'm just going to get to know him a little more," Annetka replied defensively.

Katie smiled, at her friends. She really wanted to tell them what was going on with her and Peter, but she decided it would ruin the night. She instead put on a happy face, and the girls all had a wonderful night.

About ten o'clock, Steve called, and said that he wouldn't be able to pick up Katie's car, but Katie should see if Jesse could help.

"It's okay, Steve. I'm sure he can help," Katie said, moving the phone to the other ear, "Alright, I'll see you at home than. I love you. Bye."

"What's going on, Kitty?" Amy asked.

"Well, Steve can't get my car tonight, so I'm going to see if Jesse can help."

"Do, you have to leave?" Annetka asked.

"I'm afraid so. I have a lot to do still at home. I had a wonderful time, Anya," Katie replied.

"Kitty Kat, could I get a rid home?" Amy asked.

"Sure. Let's go see if Jesse can take us to my car."

The two girls said goodbye to Annetka, and thanked her for the wonderful time.

Katie and Amy went down one floor of the apartment building to Jesse's apartment, and asked for a ride. He gladly gave the girls a lift, and they were soon on their way home.

"Kat, something's bothering you. You haven't been yourself tonight," Amy said.

"Oh?" Katie questioned trying to avoid her friend's statement. When she realized that Amy wasn't buying it, Katie said, "I got a letter from Mary today. She said that Peter is seeing another girl, and he's been a real jerk to me lately."

"What are you going to do?"

"I can always play any game that he does better than him, and I intend to prove it. If he's going to brush me off, I can do the same to him."

"That's harsh, Kat!"

"The one thing that growing up with Peter has taught me is that he needs a rude awakening to get his attention."

"How did you ever meet Peter?" Amy questioned.

"Well, it's actually a funny story. I was about four, and he was five. We were playing at the park, not together, but our parents knew each other, and they were talking. Anyway, I was in the sandbox, and a bully came up and began picking on me. When I started to cry, Peter came over and told the bully 'Don't be mean to my friend.' and being the strong hero that he was said 'If you don't apologize and really mean it, I'm going to have to hurt you until you do mean it!'"

"How sweet," Amy said.

"That's how it all started. Before that, I never would talk to Peter. After he became my hero, I was best friends with him."

"Well, I hope you will still be friends after you brush him off," Amy said sarcastically.

After dropping Amy off at her house, Katie headed home. She had so much to think about. Would Peter really leave her and date another girl? Should she really 'brush him off' as Amy had put it? Well, she wasn't going to turn back. She never let Peter win at anything without giving him a run for his money. He would have to come to America to change her mind about him if he truly did love her. Little did Katrina realize how true that challenge would become, and how she would have to struggle to 'brush off' her friend especially with Trent still waiting to pick her up as his prize the moment Peter dropped her. She hadn't told Amy about Trent, but she decided that she wouldn't be affected by that information in any way, and had left it out.

About eleven o'clock that night, Katie pulled into the drive way of her home. As she entered the house, she was greeted by her uncle, and she began to tell him all about her day. Finally around midnight, Katie got ready for bed, and crawled under the covers. Sleep came easily to Katie and her thoughts slowly drifted back to England.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The first signs of trouble

Katrina glanced around. She had seen this place before, but where? She walked toward a beautiful house that sat on a green hill. When she reached the front door, and turned the handle, she sensed that some one was behind her. Too frightened to move, Katie stood still, allowing the stranger to turn her around. She soon found herself looking up into her father's eyes. He smiled warmly at her, and Katrina ran into his arms.

"Daddy," she whispered, "Please don't ever leave me again. I feel so out of place in America. Please don't make me go back. I don't want to leave England!"

Katie was surprised to hear her Uncle Marks's voice when her Father spoke to her. "Katie, Katie, wake up love."

"What?" Katie asked. Her eyes flew open, and her heart sank. It had only been a dream.

"You must have been having a good dream. You slept for a long time," he said.

"Oh, Uncle Mark, I'm sorry. I didn't hear my alarm, and I was supposed to help you with breakfast."

"It's not that late, so you can still help me. What are you going to do today? You do have the day off you know."

"I'm not exactly sure yet. I guess, I'll decide while I'm out on the beach."

"It's nice to have the house on the beach isn't it?"

"It sure is."

"Steve has a surprise for you downstairs."

"Really?"

"Go down as find out what it is."

"Katie quickly pulled her tangled hair into a ponytail, and walked down the stairs into the living room. At the doorway, she stopped and starred into the room. Steve sat on the couch holding two dog leashes, each attached to a Siberian husky. Katrina squealed with delight and ran to her cousin. She hugged him around the neck and then sat down to pet the dogs.

"Someone was trying to sell these beauties at work. They were moving to an apartment, and couldn't keep them. I know you've always wanted a husky." Steve said.

"Thank you so much! What are their names?"

"This is Duke, and the other is Duchess."

"Oh, thank you, thank you." Katie said again as she hugged Steve again.

"You're welcome."

Katie took the dogs out into the back yard so they could play while she had breakfast with her family.

During breakfast, Katie asked Steve if he had found out anything about the man who had almost hit her the day before.

"I did find out that the car is stolen. But other than that, nothing," Steve said.

"Okay, thanks."

"I got to go to work. Talk to you later Trina."

"Steve, if you call me that one more time I'll..."

"Got to go Trina. Bye." With that, he walked out of the house and closed the door.

"If he wasn't my cousin, I'd have to hurt him for that."

After breakfast, Katie grabbed her cell phone, and called her beautiful huskies to her. "Duke, Duchess, are you two ready to go?" Katie told her uncle good bye and ran out the door. She took the dogs to the beach and let them run for a while. She discovered that they were very well trained, came when called, and knew some basic commands. "Emily would have loved you two." Katie told them.

After running her dogs for a while, Katie's cell phone rang.

"Hello, Katrina Sloan speaking."

"Katrina Evangeline, where are you? I've been calling your house for the past hour, and you weren't there," Amy said.

"Hi, Amy, I'm on the beach with my dogs."

"You have dogs?"

"I do now. Steve surprised me this morning, and gave me two Siberian Huskies. He got them from a co-worker who was moving and couldn't keep them. They are so friendly, and very obedient."

"Well, can I come join you?"

"Sure. How far away are you?"

"I'm at your front door! I'll be around in just a second. Bye."

"So, did you here anything from, Peter?" Amy questioned, as she joined Katrina.

"No, why would he contact me? I did hear from Mary. She actually called me and told me that Peter is moving here! Then I found out that he's working at Community General. Now, you are going to think that this is crazy, but last week, I told myself that he would have to move out here and work at the hospital to win my love back. He's not getting me easily."

"Well, looks like he's accepted the challenge without even realizing it."

"Yeah, I guess so," Katie said, trying to sound irritated. In reality she was thrilled that Peter was coming, but if he proved to still be a jerk, he would really have to work hard to win her love again.

"So what time did you come out here this morning?" Amy asked, changing the subject.

"About seven o'clock. It was so nice out here then. What time is it now?"

"Nine. You've been out here a while."

"Yeah, I need to take the dogs in now," Katie said.

As soon as the girls walked in the house, the phone rang. "I hope that isn't Mark telling us that he changed his mind about giving us the day off," Amy said with a grin.

"Oh, he wouldn't do that. Amy, will you answer it, I have to give Duke and Duchess some food and water," Katrina said as she walked into the kitchen.

"You want me to answer your phone? Are you crazy?"

"No, now hurry before it goes to the answering machine."

"Hello Sloan residence. This is Amy Bentley speaking," Amy said timidly.

"Amy? This is Mrs. Wood from church. You've got to help me!"

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? Haven't you seen the news? They've arrested him!"

"Him who?"

By this time Katrina had come back. Amy handed her the phone and whispered, "It's Mrs. Wood from church. I can't understand a word she's saying."

When Katie finally calmed her friend down, she was able to hear the whole story clearly. Mrs. Wood's son Jacob had been dating a girl in the youth group for a long time. A few days ago, he had proposed to her and they had planned to get married. They had decided to go to Moral Bay for the day to plan their wedding.

"Apparently, last night Jacob and Christine got into an argument, and Jacob came home. At one o'clock this morning, police found Christine dead a Moral Bay," Mrs. Wood sobbed, "and now they've arrested my baby for her murder! I know he didn't do it. Please, Katrina, help me."

"I'll see what I can do. I'm only a police consultant, but I'll call Steve, and try to get permission to investigate."

"Thank you, Katrina. I just had to have someone to help me."

"I'll do everything I can, Mrs. Wood. I'll call Steve, and we'll get on it right away. I have to go now. Bye," Katie said, and hung up the phone.

"Wait a minute. What are you getting me into?" Amy asked, "What's going on?"

"Jacob's been arrested. He's accused of murdering Christine."

"What? That's crazy!"

"She was found dead at Moral Bay at one 'o clock this morning. They arrested Jacob, and Mrs. Wood is sure that he didn't do it, and I know she's right. We just have to prove it."

"Okay. What do you mean 'We'll get on it right away?' What are you getting me into?" Amy questioned again.

"Amy, we have to help Jacob."

"No."

"Come on, Amy!"

"No! I told Mandy that I would be home early this evening. If you think for one minute that you're going to drag me out to Moral Bay to get shot, or worse, you're wrong! Mandy told me to watch out for you Sloans. She said that Mark was constantly getting into detective work, and she said that you would no doubt be the same way."

The two girls argued for ten minutes, but Amy stayed firm.

"Fine, Amy," Katrina snapped, her gray eyes flashed, and her red-headed temper began to show, "If you won't come, than I'll go by myself."

"Kat, you can't do that!" Amy let out an exasperated sigh, "Fine I'll come. If I get killed... This is only for Jacob; and his family," she added as and after thought, "If you get killed-"

"Don't say anything!" Katrina broke in, "Come on. Let's get Annetka and head to Moral Bay!"

Little did Katie realize that with her last name, which she carried with pride, came a slew of mysteries, danger, and excitement. Her life was about to change drastically, and be filled with excitement.

Amy complained all the way to Annetka's house about "being dragged into things that she never volunteered for," but by the time they had reached their friend's apartment, Katrina had Amy thoroughly convinced that nothing would happen, and that they would have fun.

Katie called Steve at work, and tried to get as much information as she could about the murder and the people in suspicion, besides Jacob. Steve transferred Katie to a friend of his who was working on the main part of the case, and she supplied Katrina with information on the boat Christine was last seen on.

"Well, Katie, all I have is that she was seen on the _Dolphin_."

"Who does that boat belong to?" Katie asked.

"A man by the name of Richard Maxwell."

"Any relation to Christine or Jacob?"

"I've been told he's a family friend of Christine's. I guess he told Jacob and Christine to borrow his boat the night they went out on the Bay."

"Were they alone on the boat?"

"As far as I know."

"Do you want me to head out there and see if the boat is still there? I might find some evidence."

"That would be great. Thanks, Katie."

"Anything else?"

"Not until the autopsy report comes in. I think your friend Amanda Bentley is in charge of that."

"Okay. Let me know if anything else comes up."

"Sure thing. Katie, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"Will you swing by the office on your way out to the bay? You'll need the search warrant for the boat. I wouldn't want you to do any of this illegally."

"Oh, sure! See you in a few minutes," Katie laughed.

"Bye."

Katrina and Amy soon arrived at Annetka's apartment, and walked up to the main door. Amy rang the doorbell for Anya's apartment. Annetka answered on the intercom system, and told them that the door was opened and that they could come right in.

Amy and Katrina went up to their friend's apartment. Once inside, Katie explained to Anya what had happened to Christine and the situation they were now investigating, and Annetka agreed to go with her friends to help the Woods.

The three friends walked out to Katie's ice blue _Saturn LS II_ and got in, and they were soon on their way to Moral Bay for an adventure that none of them would have ever dreamed of. They talked excitedly about all that they hoped to find at the bay, and how they could become famous, just by solving what they hoped to be a simple mystery.

"Katie, how did you happen to get this mystery?" Annetka asked.

"I don't know. It just seems to have found me," Katrina replied.

"Amanda warned me that Mark has that happen to him all of the time. It seems to be true of all Sloans," Amy said.

"What could possibly go wrong?" Annetka asked.

"Plenty!" Amy replied, glaring at Katrina.

"I gave you the option of not coming," Katie laughed.

"Do you know how awful I would feel if something happened to either one of you and I wasn't there?" Amy asked.

"Well, nothing's going to happen I'm sure," Katie laughed again.

"Never say never," Annetka warned.

"Oh, what are you two so worried about?" Katie asked.

"All I'm saying is that I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't know what I would do without you, and..." Amy started to say.

"Amy," Katie interrupted, "you sound as if we're going on a suicide mission! Now let's change the subject for a while okay?"

After stopping by the police station to pick up the search warrant, the girls headed out for the bay. They were soon talking about their latest finds at the mall, news from friends at home, and anything else that they could think of. The three friends actually found themselves enjoying the trip, in spite of what they had set out to accomplish. The worries of the mystery at Moral Bay were almost forgotten until about an hour later when Katie turned off onto the exit for the bay.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

A Close call

"I can't believe that they would arrest Jacob! He loved Christine!" Annetka said.

"Which is exactly why Jacob wouldn't kill her, and why we are going to prove it," Katrina said.

"Oh! I almost forgot. Katie, I have a letter for you from someone special," Amy said.

"Who?" Katie's eyes lit up like a little girl who has just received a doll for Christmas.

"Oh, a certain someone, but you can't have it until we get to the bay."

"Amy, that's awful," Annetka said.

"I know, but it's fun to make her wait," Amy said with a grin, "So, Kat, what do we have to go on?"

"Not much I'm afraid. I'm going on a hunch that Sarah gave..."

"Who's Sarah?" Annetka asked.

"Sarah is a friend of mine that works with Steve. Anyway, Sarah said that there is a boat docked on the island in the middle of the bay. She's guessing that the boat is the _Dolphin_; the boat that Christine was last seen near," Katrina explained.

"So we're supposed to go out there and risk the fact that there might be some thugs that want to kill anyone who gets near the boat to search it, and we're doing this to prove that Jacob didn't kill Christine," Amy said.

"Right," Katie replied.

"I can tell that you're just thrilled with the idea, Amy," Annetka laughed.

"I can hardly contain my excitement," Amy replied as she glared at Katrina. To which Katie replied with only a sweet smile.

After an hour long drive, the girls finally reached the bay around eleven o'clock. As they got out of the car, Amy held the note that she had promised Katie out to her friend.

"Here, Kitty. Come and get it, Kitty. Good girl," Amy said.

"Meow," Katie said sarcastically.

As soon as she had opened the note, Katrina blushed; from anger or embarrassment neither Amy nor Annetka could tell, but both girls knew who the note was from.

Dear 'Trina,

I am sorry that my first day at work finds you gone. I do hope that you have a wonderful day, and I hope you will be careful. Trina, I have so much to tell you; especially about my new friend Joy. She's so wonderful! I hope you will forgive me for not writing to you sooner, I was spending a lot of time with Joy. I know you understand. I'll see you later, By the way, America is so much better than you described it, and your uncle is a great chap. See you later. Yours Forever, Peter

Katrina had tried for a long time to ignore her feelings for Peter. He teased her so often, and she wanted to make people think that she was bothered by it. This was true, but Katie knew that deep down, she loved every minute of it. In all actuality, Katie was falling in love with Peter all over again. She had to beat him at his own game though. She would hold out just a little longer, and maybe Peter would come back pleading for forgiveness. Katrina wouldn't admit her feelings to anyone, at least not yet. She wasn't quite sure if she was even ready to admit them to herself at this point.

Katie placed the letter in the car, and tried to concentrate on what she had to do. The three girls rented a small motor boat and rode out to the island, which sat in the middle of the bay.

As they began to walk along the shore something caught Amy's attention.

"Look!" she said, "There's the boat, and it is the _Dolphin_!"

"I want a closer look. Are you two coming?" Katie asked, as she ran towards the boat.

"Are you nuts?" Annetka asked her friend as she pulled Katrina back, "You have now idea what or who is on that boat."

"Which is exactly why I want to go look," Katie replied matter-of-factly. She pulled away from Annetka, and continued walking toward the boat.

"Curiosity killed Kat," Amy shouted after her friend.

"Satisfaction brought me back!" Katie shouted over her shoulder.

As the girls crept up to the boat, they realized that the only way to get onto it would be to enter from the water, and up the ladder hanging from the side.

"Are you two up for a swim?" Annetka asked.

"Without our swimsuits?" Amy asked.

"It's not that bad. We can leave our bags and essentials on the shore somewhere," Katie said.

"You really have lost your mind, and gone into a mystery mode," Amy said as she reluctantly placed her things with Annetka's and Katrina's on the shore.

Katie ignored her friend, plunged into the warm bay water, and swam to the boat. She was soon joined by her friends.

"I'm going up," Katrina whispered.

"You can't go up there alone!" Amy hissed.

"We'll all go up," said Annetka.

"Here we go again. You two are always dragging me into things that I never volunteered to do," Amy sighed.

Katie, being the most adventurous of the group, scrambled up the ladder first. When she was sure that the cost was clear, she turned and helped her friends up the side of the boat.

"I'm going to check the back of the boat, while you two check the front. I'll be right back," Amy said.

"Now look who's getting brave," Katie said to Annetka.

A few minutes later however, Annetka and Katrina had a sickening feeling well up inside of them when the heard two gun shots followed by a bone chilling scream. The girls tried to get back to where their friend was, but they were stopped by two men dressed in all black.

Annetka charged one of the men, knocking him on his back, and Katie took the other man down easily with defense moves that Steve had taught her. As the man fell backwards, he hit his head on the railing, knocking himself unconscious.

"That's one way to do it," Annetka said in amazement. She had successfully tied her attacker up, and was checking on Amy.

"How is she?" Katrina asked.

"She's been shot in the stomach and the leg. We've got to get her to the hospital."

"Listen, at the front of the boat, there's a loading ramp that we must have missed earlier. Take her down that way, and call 9-1-1."

"Aren't you coming?" Amy asked weakly.

"I have a little more exploring to do. I'll be down in a minute," Katie replied.

Katie crept into the cabin of the boat, and began searching through the drawers and cupboards. She found a pocket book calendar, with unusual notes in it, placed the book in her pocket, and continued her search.

When she opened the last drawer, she dug under a few papers, and found a handkerchief, soaked in blood, wrapped around a knife. She placed the object in a water tight bag along with the journal, and left the cabin.

Katie stopped and took the calendar back out to look at it. There were several appointments written down, none of which grabbed Kat's attention. Katrina was about to close the book when she spotted a date written and Christine's name written next to it. After examining the note closer, Katie's eyes widened in surprise.

9/20 - Meet Christine at Moral Bay (receive payment)

9/21 - talk over "plans" for the big bang theory with team

9/22 - secure shipment/ pick up Christine for date

(Christine found out about the plan. She knows too much. This

Problem must be solved soon!)

9/23 - Let Jacob and Christine borrow boat

9/24 - 12:30 pick up boat/ take care of problem

Katie turned the corner to join her friends, and show them what she had found. What could these notes mean? Was Christine dating another man, and found out something that placed her life on the line? "Someone is defiantly hiding something," Katie thought, "Besides; our welcome committee wouldn't have been so hospitable if they weren't trying to cover something up."

Suddenly, Kat was stopped by a man dressed in all black. "Who are you, and what do you have in your hand?" he asked.

"I might ask you what you're doing with these things on your boat," Katie challenged.

"That's none of your business."

"If I told you that I was working with the police on an investigation, would that make it my business?" Katie replied, as she showed the man her ID identifying her as a police consultant.

"Get off of the boat."

"Oh, so you must be the owner. Nice to meet you," Katie replied sarcastically.

"No, I'm not. Who gave you permission to be here?"

"I have the warrant," Katrina replied as she showed the search warrant," Christine Matthews was found dead out here about one o'clock this morning. She was last seen on this boat."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Now, if you're done, get off my boat."

"I thought you said you didn't own the boat."

"I don't, but I'm borrowing it from a friend. It's mine for now."

"Taking it to hide any evidence?" Katrina paused, and the man said nothing.

"It's a shame," she continued, "I thought that Jacob loved her. My guess is that he was framed for her murder. Maybe she found out something that put her in danger. My guess is that someone's hiding something." Katie watched the man's face for a reaction as she spoke, but his face was unreadable.

"You'd better leave now," the man said.

Katie turned and began to walk away, but as she did the man pulled out a gun, and aimed. "You know too much," he said.

Katie turned and saw the gun aimed at her. She tried to run, but the man was quick, and pulled the trigger before she could get away.

Katie screamed in agony as she hit the deck. The man came lunging at her, yet somehow, Katie was able to take him down. After a short tussle on the deck, Katrina got up and dashed toward the side of the boat. As she attempted to jump, her attacker rushed forward and grabbed her arm.

Back on land, Annetka lowered Amy gently to the ground. She quickly dialed 9-1-1 and told them what had happened. No sooner had she hung up the phone that the girls heard Katie's first scream.

"Katie!" Annetka screamed.

"Anya, you have to go help her," Amy coughed, "I'll be all right."

"I can't leave you, Amy," Annetka replied.

"Hey, I'm a doctor. I can take care of myself!" Amy shot back.

When the girls heard another scream and a splash, Amy urged Annetka to go help Katie. Annetka ran back onto the boat, but before she could get very far, she heard a voice.

"You there! Stop."

She turned and stared at the man who spoke to her. He had a gun pointed at her head, and he wasn't afraid to kill her. He had a scar above his right eye that continued down his cheek. His dark brown eyes sent a cold stare into Annetka's body. He had dark curly hair, and he was clean shaven. Annetka tried to remember every detail about the man's face.

Her thoughts were quickly brought back to the present as she heard him cock his pistol. He took aim, and fired. Annetka ducked, and the bullet grazed her forehead close to her right eye. She tried to run, but he took aim again and lodged a bullet in her collar bone. Somehow she managed to reach the side of the boat.

"Don't you dare jump!" the man said.

With out missing a beat, Annetka plunged into the water, and reached for Katie who was struggling to stay afloat. The two girls managed to make it to shore, and barely got out of the way, as their attackers started up the boat, and sped away.

"Katie, are you okay?" Amy asked.

"Oh sure," Katie said sarcastically while trying to hide the pain, "but we've got to get out of here."

"Katie, hold still. I want to look at that wound," Annetka said.

"Which one? I smacked my head on the side of the boat, and that thug shot me in the shoulder. You really need to lie still and rest yourself."

"I'll take care of Annetka, love," replied Amanda, who had just arrived with the paramedics.

"Amanda, how did you get here?" Katie asked.

"Steve called Jesse, and warned him that you and the girls were investigating. When we got the call from the paramedics, I insisted that Jesse bring me along, and here I am."

Katie ordinarily would have been barking orders to help her friends. She never would have dreamed that she would be the patient. She was in so much pain, however, and was so tired that she lay still allowing Amanda to bark orders for her.

As the pain began to become stronger, Katrina began to slip into unconsciousness. She heard voices for a while, but they grew softer by the minute as she closed her eyes in agony. Katrina didn't remember much after that. Two days later, she woke up in a hospital bed at Community General.

Katie had learned to tell who was coming down the hallway of the hospital by how they walked. She was sure that she heard her uncle coming, and called out to him.

In a minute, Mark stuck his head in the door, and smiled. "Well, my little princes is awake now. How are you feeling?" he asked.

"My shoulder feels like it's shattered, and the room is spinning. I'm not complaining or anything, because I feel great," Katie said with a sarcastic grin.

"Well, it's not really that bad. You're healing up fine. Knowing you, you'll be back to work in a few days or so."

"That long?" Katie teased.

"Well, if you're up to it, I was going to take you home tomorrow."

"Let me guess. Amy and Annetka are both at home already."

"Well, they asked to get up."

"That's an understatement!" Katie laughed, "Knowing them, they were probably begging to get out of bed, Uncle Mark."

"Well..."

"Enough said."

Within an hour, it was arranged that Katie would go home the next day, and finish recovering. Unfortunately, she wasn't a very good patient as was typical of most Sloans. Katie hated lying in bed and being waited on.

Steve stayed home with her, and tried to make her comfortable, but he knew how difficult it was to lie still. Occasionally, he would allow her to get out of bed, and that was a secret that they kept between the two of them.

One afternoon, Steve asked, "Katie, what were you thinking?"

"What?"

"You really shouldn't have gone on that boat without a Police officer with you. You weren't armed, you could have been killed, and..."

"Oh, that. Well, honestly, I wasn't thinking," Katie interrupted.

"Obviously."

"What did you find out with what I found though?"

"Well, after handwriting analysis, finding the owner of the boat, and piecing together what you found, we figured that a man named Richard Maxwell has a lot to do with Christine's murder."

"Who is the owner?"

"An innocent citizen. The boat was stolen."

"Tell me more about this Maxwell."

"He was seeing Christine on what he calls a friendship basis, but I'd call it dating. Anyway, the book you found is his, the knife is his, and has his finger prints all over it, and the handkerchief is his too. Although he denies any of this, he has something that he's planning. Christine obviously found out about it, and someone thought that dangerous, so they her."

"So, do you have enough information to prove Jacob innocent?"

"I'm pretty sure that we do. I just want to know what it is that Maxwell's planning."  
"You'll figure it out."

"The only thing that confuses me is that there has to be another person helping with this."

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, some of the handwriting was different, and a few prints didn't match up."

"So now we have two people in on this murder," Katie said.

"At least two."

"I just wish I could help."

With her family's help, Katrina did heal quickly, and she was back to work within a week of the attack. Her friends on the other hand were not aloud to come back to work for a while longer, and Katie wondered how she had ever worked at the hospital before she knew them. She deeply missed them, and found herself constantly longing to talk to each of her friends throughout the day. She had to rely on her one true friend; the Lord Jesus Christ.

One evening, as she sat in her room thinking about all that had happened that day, she began to pray for her friends: "Lord Jesus, I thank you for your love, and the strength that you have given me day by day. I ask that you would be with Amy and Annetka. I know that Amy is one of your children, but I don't think that Annetka is. Lord, please give me the boldness to witness to her. Please forgive me for not doing so already. Please heal them both, and bring them back to work soon. I ask for your protection for my family and me. Particularly Steve as he goes to work from day to day. Thank you, Lord, for all that you have done for me, and will continue to do. In Jesus' name, Amen."

That night, sleep just wouldn't come easily to Katie as she lay in bed. She was worried about her friends, and she hoped that they would be back at work the next day. She missed them so much.

The next day, Katie searched for her friends in the staff meeting, but didn't see them. She found Amanda after the meeting, and asked where Amy was.

"I'm sorry, Katie. I felt that she needed to stay at home one more day. She wasn't too happy, but I made sure that she wasn't going anywhere. She figured that you would be here though, and sent this note."

Katie's heart sank as Amanda handed her the letter. She had so much to tell her friend, but that would just have to wait. After asking around, Katrina found that Annetka too, had stayed home.

Katie placed her letter into her pocket and hurried off to work. She would have to read it later. Now, she had patients to attend to, surgeries to assist in, and paperwork to fill out. It wasn't until after lunch that Katrina was able to find enough time to read the note from Amy.

Katie decided that she would read her note from Amy outside in the new courtyard that had just been completed at Community General. Katie found her favorite spot, and sat down to read. She was so happy to receive a note from her friend. She had a thousand questions for her, and Katie hoped that a few of them would be answered by this letter.

First of all, how was she feeling? Was she doing better? Would she be at work the next day? And what about Annetka, would she come tomorrow too? Was she being taken care of? Did either of the girls need anything? Could she help them somehow?

Katrina felt responsible for her friends' injuries, although she knew that really, she had no control over it. The fact that bothered her was that she had said that nothing would go wrong at the bay, and it seemed that everything did.

Katrina sighed as she carefully opened the envelope, and slid the beautiful stationary out of it. She smiled and thought, "Amy never will write to anyone on anything less then a piece of pretty stationary. Why, I don't know, but it's nice to see that someone takes the time to use good paper for a letter. It's nice that someone takes the time to write a letter for that matter."

As her eyes scanned the letter's contents, a puzzled look came into Katie's eyes. She set the letter aside for a moment, and thought about what her friend had written. Could this tie into the murder at Moral Bay somehow? Could the man Amy had spoken about be in connection with the mystery, even be the murderer himself? "This is interesting information," Katie thought to herself, as she picked up the letter and read it a third time, "Amy, you could have really found something."


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

A step in the right direction

Dear Katie,

How are you? Mandy forced me to stay home today, but I knew that you would be working. I talked to Anya yesterday. She said that Jacob had a trial yesterday, and was proven not guilty. She also said that Jesse is coming up and taking good care of her.

Guess what? Anya got a good look at her attacker, and described him for Steve. They're thinking that it was a henchman for Richard Maxwell. Maxwell was convicted for causing several bombings several years ago in Colorado. He was arrested, but escaped from jail a few months later. Speaking of those bombings, my parents died in one caused by, the police think, Maxwell. Unfortunately, no one can prove that particular bombing was caused by him. Anyway, if you get any more information, let me know okay?

I'd like to see you, so if you can stop by later I would like that.

Your Friend,

Amy

Katrina's thoughts were snapped to the present when she was paged.

_Paging Doctor Katie Sloan. Please report to the autopsy room._

"What did Amanda find?" Katie asked.

Katie hurried into the hospital towards the autopsy room. When she turned the corner, Katie saw Amanda working on a corpse.

"Not exactly what I wanted to see," Katie said teasingly.

"Sorry," Amanda replied, "I want you to look at this. As I was doing Christine autopsy, I found something interesting. At first I thought she was killed because of a wound created by the knife you found, but after further testing, I discovered she died because of a new poison.

"A new poison?"

"It seems that it was created just for this purpose," Amanda explained.

"So what's so new about it?"

"Well, it seems that she was cut by the knife, and that made her bleed, obviously.

The funny part about it was that not only was there a large wound on her leg from the knife, but there was also a small cut on her finger. I didn't think anything of it, until I studied the bandage on her finger. That's where the poison comes in. The poison was placed on her bandage and that's how it entered the blood stream."

"So if it was only a small cut, why was there so much blood on the knife?"

"It was used as a cover up after she was killed. It was dropped into her dead body to make it look like she had died by stabbing. Unfortunately, the killer did a really sloppy job by stabbing her in the leg. The only way that Christine could have died from that is if she had been left there for hours."

"Wouldn't you be able to get up and leave if you were just stabbed in the leg?"

"That's why I said it was a sloppy job."

"So since Jacob didn't kill Christine, who did?"

"I have no clue, but Steve is looking over that journal you found to see if he can get anything from it."

"Amanda, you're wonderful! If you find anything else, let me know. I have to get back to work."

"Bye, sweet."

Katie quickly walked back to work. She had so much on her mind, and so much that needed to be done. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a familiar voice.

"Katrina," the voice said. Katie tried to continue walking and ignore the person, but he spoke again, "Hey, Carrots, how long can you ignore me?"

Katie turned around and looked at Peter. She wanted to cry out and run to him. Katrina wanted to have him hold her in his arms, and comfort her from all of her fears and worries that she had. She wanted to love him like she had in England, but she was determined to not give in so easily.

"Ignore you, Doctor Barry?" she asked coolly, "What makes you think that I am ignoring you?"

"Come on, Kate, ever since I've come to the hospital you've been ignoring me. What have I done to deserve that?"

"I don't know. What have you done?" Katie asked sarcastically.

"Aren't you going to tell me?"

"I think you can figure that out all on your own. Now, if you would excuse me, I have work that I need to get back to."

Katie turned around and left Peter standing in the hallway, hurt and confused. She walked around the corner, and leaned against the wall. Katie brushed at the tears that fell from her eyes. She didn't want to hurt Peter like that, but he had hurt her greatly too. She wanted him to realize that, but at the same time, she just wanted him to love her and call her his baby like he used to do in England.

Katrina finally walked back to her patients' rooms to complete her job for the day. She didn't see Peter any more, and she thought that was just as well. Katie was afraid that if she spoke with him much more, that she would break down and allow him to beat her at his game. But then again, was he the one playing the game, by pushing her away, or was she pushing him away?

Katie pushed those thoughts aside, and began to pack up to go home. She had to talk to Steve about all of the information that she had gathered that day. Perhaps it would help them get somewhere in the case of Christine's murder. Katie didn't know how it could help, but anything was a possibility at this point.

Later that evening at the dinner table, Katie discussed everything that had gone on that day, with her cousin and her uncle.

"So, Steve, what do you think about what Amanda found?"

"I'm not exactly sure what to think at this point, but at least it's a start. I have to get off to work. I have night shift." Steve replied kissing Katie on the forehead.

"Bye," she said.

"Kat, you asked me earlier about the Maxwell family," Mark said.

"Yes."

"Well, do you remember the bombings that occurred a few years ago in Colorado?"

"No, but Amy told me about them."

"Well, I want you to look at these pictures. I had Steve bring them home."

"Okay," Katie replied as she spread out the photos over the table, "What am I looking for, Uncle Mark?"

"I want you to see if any of these men look familiar to you. They are men who may be connected to the bombings there, and possibly Christine's murder."

After a moment of scanning the pictures, Katie said, "That's him!"

"That's who, Katie?"

"That's the man that attacked us on the ship at Moral Bay."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Annetka and Amy both described him so well that I could pick him out."

"All right. We'll let Steve know."

Katrina was so excited about all that she had found out that day, that as soon as she got a chance, she called Steve at work and let him know of all that had happened. He told her that he would begin looking into the case some more. Katie was so happy, yet she still had many questions to answer, and she knew that her detective work was not yet over.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Disaster strikes

One week later, Katie sat in her California home reading a book while Steve sat watching the news. _And now for our top story of the hour. _Katie perked up. There hadn't been anything really interesting until now. _Several bombings occurred today in the LA area._ "Uncle Mark, come in here quickly!" Katie called. Mark rushed into the room to see what had upset his niece so much, and stared in disbelief at the TV as the news anchor continued to relay the story of the bombings. When he had finished, Katrina asked, "Do you think that Richard Maxwell could have done this?"

"I don't think so," Steve replied.

"Why not?"

"Because he was arrested for the murder of Jacob's fiancée, Christine, today. He was also the person who almost hit your car a few weeks ago."

"How did you find that out?"

"Well, that journal that you found was Richard Maxwell's. He had mentioned several times that he knew Christine, and that he had gone to see her. In one of the last entries, he mentioned something about attempting to start the bombings up again. Apparently, Christine found out about it, and threatened to tell the police, and Maxwell killed her before she could. He made a stupid move by stealing a car and trying to get away, and then returned to his boat to retrieve any evidence, but you got there first, and met him there."

"So what have you gotten out of him?" Katie asked.

"He won't talk," Steve replied in disgust.

Over the next few days, the police tried to get information out of Maxwell, but he refused to talk. Finally, he agreed to talk, but only to Mark Sloan, the man who had 'helped to kill his father'. Mark went down to the jail, and talked to Richard.

When he came out, Steve asked his dad what had been said.

"He wouldn't tell me much of anything. He did say that he was not the one who was doing the bombings, but he knew who was."

"Who is it, Dad?"

"He wouldn't tell me. He said if I kept coming back he would tell me more each time."

"Why will he only talk to you?"

"All I know is that I treated his father when he had cancer. I wasn't able to help him and he died a few months after the diagnosis. The family all blamed me, but there was nothing I could do."

"So why would he want to talk to you?"

"I suppose since he knows that I work with the police, I can pull a few strings. Not that I would, but that's his thinking."

As the bombings continued, Mark continued to talk to Maxwell. Finally, He found that there was a pattern to the bombings. When he went home that night, He relayed this information to Katie and her friends.

"Girls, I need you to help me find the pattern of the bombings."

"What else did he say today, Mark?" Annetka asked.

"Not much. He just talked about how he wanted to have a nice jail cell with a window, and a television and maybe some other state of the art things. I told him that if he would just spill the beans, that it might be able to be arranged. He just laughed and asked if it really bothered me that much. I finally left."

Several weeks went by and more bombings occurred, but the girls couldn't find a pattern. Finally, while Mark was once again visiting Richard, Amy had an idea.

"Katie, you have a big map of LA don't you?" Amy asked.

"Yes, why?"

"Would you mind if we stuck push pins in it?"

"No, I guess not. Why?"

"Go get it and I'll show you."

Katie returned a few minutes with her map and a box of push pins. Amy then instructed Annetka to read the addresses and crossroads of every place that had been bombed. Every place that was read off of the list got a push pin. By the time that they were finished, the three girls noticed a pattern on the map.

"Look, Katie!" Annetka said.

"I see it. Good thinking, Amy. Maxwell's spelling out the name _Regan_. That's the name of his father," Katrina said.

"But, Kitty, Mark said that it couldn't be Maxwell. He's in jail," Amy said.

"He could have connections you know," she replied, "and besides, Richard did say that he knew who was committing the bombings."

Just then, Mark returned. "I got somewhere this time," he said, "Richard isn't doing the bombings, but he is involved in a round about sort of way. His sister Katelyn is responsible."

"We got somewhere too," Annetka told him, "Look at the map."

"Wow! Good work."

"But, Mark," Amy said, looking at the map, "Katelyn only has two or three more places left, and if this map is right, Community General is in her path."

"She wouldn't bomb a hospital!" Annetka said. "That would be horrible."

Over the next few weeks, Richard Maxwell told Mark more information about the bombings and his sister. At the end of one of these meetings, he told Mark,

"My sister is dangerous, Mark, so take this as a warning."

"What is that supposed to mean?" James asked, but all the man would say was, "We'll answer these questions and more next week, so tune in next time. Don't you just love the suspense of it all? I used to have my own radio program if you remember. Hey, Mark, when you get me that state of the art jail cell, make sure I get my own recording room so I can have my radio program back."

"I'll see what I can do," Mark said sarcastically with a hint of frustration in his voice.

Back at the hospital, Annetka was working with a young girl who had come in with a nasty gash on her head. After giving the girl an examination, she learned that her patient had amnesia. Anya told the young girl that she would go get Doctor Travis, and she left to find Jesse.

After explaining the situation to him, Anya handed the file to Jesse and left to get her things out of her locker. Katie met her in the locker room.

"How is she?" she asked.

"She who, Katie?"

"Becca. The girl you were just with."

"Oh, she's okay. I think she has temporary amnesia."

"Okay. I'll see you tomorrow, Annetka."

"Okay. See you later."

Katie walked to the elevator and road it down to the basement. When she reached her car, she heard someone walk up behind her, but she was lost in thought and didn't really talk notice of it. Suddenly, someone touched Katrina on the shoulder. Katie gasped and spun around.

"I'm sorry, Carrots, I didn't mean to scare you."

"Peter!" Katie said in surprise, "I... I guess I didn't... I mean I... I was busy thinking, and didn't hear you."

"I could tell. Listen, I want to talk to you. Do you have a minute?"

"I suppose so." Katrina tried to sound annoyed.

"Well, I'll make it quick. I wanted to know if you are free on Saturday night after work. I really need to talk to you, and I know it's kind of late to do it now. I wanted to know if you would like to go to dinner with me."

Forgetting that she wanted to brush Peter off, Katie immediately replied that she would love to.

"Good. I'll see you later."

Katie got in her car and started it. Then it hit her. "I wasn't supposed to do that! He was... I mean... I wanted to prove... Oh! I'm tired of trying to prove anything. I want him to love me again, and I have to apologize. I have to say something on Saturday night!" Katie thought to herself.

When Katie reached her house, Mark greeted her and Katie asked him if she could talk to him in his study. She explained that she wanted to find out about the girl who had come into the hospital with amnesia earlier.

"Her name is Becca Walker, and she worked at the Den, a restaurant downtown."

"How do you know that?"

"I already did some searching. So can I do some detective work?" Katrina begged.

"I don't know Katie."

"Please?"

"But why do you want to look into her story?"

"I don't know. I just have a feeling it will help with Christine's murder case."

"Be careful," James sighed.

"I will."

Katrina called Amy, and she came over to the Sloan's home.

"Amy, I think you need to call Annetka. If I do it, she'll say no for sure because of what happened last time I wanted to be a detective."

"Why me? It's your house, and I don't even know what to tell her. Besides, you're dragging me into something I don't want to do."

"Please?"

"All right, I'll call her." Amy replied half heartily. She quickly dialed Anya's number and waited.

"Hello, Annetka?"

"Oh, hi, Amy, what's up?"

"Well, Mark, um, he wants us to learn about this girl Becca."

"Really?"

Annetka suddenly realized that Amy was forced to call her. Annetka smiled as she heard Katrina talking to Amy in the background, and telling her what to say. Annetka tried to sound as if she didn't know who Amy was talking about.

"Becca?"

"The girl with amnesia that came into the hospital today. So Kat... um... Mark wants us check out the place where she works. It's called the Den, and we were going to check it out, and wanted to know if you wanted to go along."

"Mark wants us to?" Annetka asked.

"Well... He knows, but he never really said he wanted us to." Amy replied.

"And does Amanda know?"

"Um..."

Annetka tried not to laugh as she replied, "I'll be right over."

The girls soon found themselves at the Den. The inside was dark, and kind of gloomy. It was ten o'clock at night, yet there were a lot of customers. "Table for three." Amy said.

The host led the three friends over to a table which was next to a table of young men. They looked at the girls, and began to smile and point. Katie glared at them and turned away. When she looked back, one of them smiled at her. She blushed, but took no notice.

Once Annetka had ordered, she asked the waiter, "So, do you know a Becca Walker?"

"Rebecca, yes. Why?"

"I'm her doctor, and she came in with a gash on her forehead today, and I was wondering if you knew anything about it."

"She," he lowered his voice, "she got into an argument with Pierre St. Just. He was dating her, and I heard them yelling at each other, something about payments and plans. I don't know any more."

"Thank you very much."

As he walked away, Katie noticed the man that had smiled at her give a warning glance. Later, as they were leaving, Amy noticed the same man following them.

"Let's hurry up," she whispered.

"When the man reached his car, he pulled out a gun and motioned for the girls to get in. "Get in," he hissed, "All of you." He then ordered Annetka to drive. As she drove he repeated over and over to stay away from Becca. He had a heavy French accent as he spoke.

He directed Annetka to drive to an abandoned warehouse across the street from the hospital. As they were forced into the building, the girls tried to run, but a shot rang out, and Katrina screamed. Annetka turned to help her, but was shot in the stomach, and knocked out.

The man who had shot at Katrina now had her hands tied behind her back. She tried to wriggle free, but was unsuccessful. She looked around for Amy, but didn't see her.

"Your friends are being taken care of," the man said.

"What are you doing to them?" Katie asked.

"I'd be more concerned about what the boss is going to do with you."

With that, he forced Katrina into the warehouse, and into a small room that seemed to have been made into an office. The man shoved Katie into a chair and said, "The boss will be with you in a minute. Don't do anything stupid." He left the room and shut the door behind him.

Katie glanced around the room. There was a wooden desk and a matching book case. Neither had much on it; a few scattered papers, and a couple of pictures, but nothing looked familiar. Katie turned her attention to her left arm. The bullet had only grazed it, but it stung.

Suddenly, the door opened, and two men entered. The first was the same man that had brought Katie into the room, and the second, Katrina guessed to be "the boss".

"So, you must be the girl who was asking too many questions. My name is Joe, and I'm in charge around here."

"What do you want from me?" Katie asked.

"Well, it's my understanding that you've been snooping into other people's business."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Let me refresh your memory. See this picture? It's a picture of my girl Rebecca. I understand that you were wondering why she had a head injury."

"I am a doctor. I was only trying to help."

"Of course. You were just doing your research. Well, let me tell you, I've been doing some research of my own. You haven't been just researching Rebecca; you've been working with the Maxwell case."

"How do you know that?"

"Mr. Maxwell is my employer."

Katrina gasped, suddenly recognizing this man as one of the men at moral bay.

"What's the matter, Miss. Sloan? You look a bit surprised. See. Mr. Maxwell's got a whole lot of people working for him. A network you might call it. Well, Rebecca's part of that network, but she decided to back out on us. She was going to tell the cops where we were hiding, and turn us all in. So I had to fix that."

"What did you do to her?"

"The same thing I'm going to do to you."

The other man walked over to Katrina and jerked her to her feet. He held her directly in front of him, and waited. Joe walked over to his book case, reached behind it, and pulled out a large wooden poll. "Untie her hands, Pierre. We'll give her a fighting chance."

The man holding Katie did as he was told. Katrina didn't dare move. She stood starring at the man in front of her wondering what would happen next.

"You can leave now, Pierre," Joe said, "Miss. Sloan and I have some more talking to do."

Twenty minutes later, Joe left his office carrying a blood stained wooden poll. He met Pierre outside the room. "Did you take care of the others?" he asked.

"They're in the back room. I made sure that both of them are beat up pretty good. I didn't even need to tie them up. They are both out cold."

"Good. You made the phone call just like I said?"

"Yes boss. I called the police just like you told me. I told them there was an accident at the warehouse. I guess we have about ten minutes to get out of town."

"Well, we're close enough to the edge that I could stop and get a soda at that rate," Joe laughed.

"Should I go get the car?"

"No, Pierre, you aren't coming."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said. It's all part of Richard's plan. See, Rebecca wasn't really going to turn us in. I just had to have some reason to get rid of her. It didn't work as well as I hoped though. No matter, I'll be out of the country before she can press charges."

"But, why am I not going?"

"Richard said before I made a break for the border to get rid of all of my colleges and work solo. I'm going to go get the new recruit, and I don't need anyone else with me."

"Why you little traitor!"

"I'm sorry, but that's the way Maxwell, planned it. It's all part of the job. See ya around."

With that, Joe was gone. His partner stood watching him go, cursing the man under his breath. When the police arrived, Pierre was arrested and charged with the entire kidnapping and beating of three girls. He had been betrayed by the man he had trusted.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

One step closer

Steve grabbed the man's throat and forced him against the wall. "Maybe I'm not making myself clear," he hissed inches from the man's face, "Where are the girls?"

"All right, I'll tell," the man choked.

Steve loosened his grip, but did not let go of the man's neck.

"Two of them are in the back room, but it's locked."

"And the other?" Steve asked.

"She's in the office. It's off to the right once you go in. It's locked too."

"I don't care if it's locked or not," Steve replied letting the man go, "I have ways of getting in." He motioned for his partner and two other officers to follow him and together they entered the building. "Let's start at the back," he said.

With one swift kick, Steve knocked the door of the back room open. Once inside, he saw both Annetka and Amy beaten and bruised, lying on the floor. Two of the officers began to help them while the third went with Steve to find Katrina. "I really don't want to know what they've done to her," Steve muttered under his breath.

They quickly found the office and Steve once again opened the door with a kick. "Oh, Katie," he muttered. There lay his cousin in a crumpled heap, her own blood spilled all around her.

Katie closed her eyes and later woke up in the hospital. She didn't know how she got there, or who had found them. All she knew was she was safe.

"There seems to be a pattern of investigating, and ending up here," Katie whispered.

Katrina glanced around her room. Amy lay in a bed next to her, sleeping peacefully, and Annetka was in a bed on the other side of Katie. Katrina watched Annetka, and noticed that her face was a bright red.

"She's burning up." Katie sighed.

Annetka suddenly began to shake her head as if she was having a bad dream. Katie knew instantly, that Anya was delirious because of the fever. At first all the girl said was in Russian and Katie couldn't understand what she was saying. Amy opened her eyes and looked at Katie.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Anya's burning up, and I think..." Katie stopped as Annetka began to speak in English.

"Dimitri, no. No, you can't go in there! I won't let you. The soldiers will kill you."

"Who's Dimitri?" Amy asked.

"I don't know." Katie replied as she eased herself out of bed. Pain spread across her face as she stood up and walked over to Annetka.

"At least nothing's broken," Katie thought.

"Katrina!" Amy scolded, "Get back in bed!"

"No. Besides, no one said I couldn't move." Katie replied defiantly. Amy stuck out her tongue and lay back down. Katie walked over to Annetka's bed and sat down on the edge. She gently ran her fingers through her friend's hair to pull it out of her face, and try to cool her off. As Annetka continued to dream, Katie continued to run her hand across her friend's forehead to try to comfort her.

Finally, Annetka woke up as the fever broke.

"Katie, what... what are you doing here?"

"Shhh. Just get some rest."

Annetka smiled and closed her eyes once again.

About an hour later, Annetka woke up.

"Katrina?"

"Yeah?" Katie sighed, as pain shot through every muscle of her body.

"What were you doing out of bed earlier?" Anya asked with her usual commanding voice that she used as a doctor.

"Um... listening to your stories of Russia." Katie replied weakly.

"My stories of..." Annetka allowed her voice to trail off.

"You were delirious, and you told us about Dimitri. Who's he?" Amy asked sitting up.

"My brother. He was killed by the communists." Annetka replied quietly.

Suddenly, a man stopped at the doorway, and looked in. "How's my Russian doll?"

Annetka smiled, "Hello, Alexi."

"Russian doll?" Amy whispered to Katie, who tried to stifle a giggle.

"Alexi, these are my friends, Katrina and Amy that I was telling you about," Annetka said.

"Pleasure to meet you," he said.

"Anya has been telling us stories." Amy said.

"Oh, really? I heard she had a fever. Well, I brought your lap top like you asked, Anya, are you feeling up to using it?"

"I'll be fine. Thank you for bringing it."

"I wanted to see how you are doing, but I have to get to work."

"Okay. Thank you."

"I'll stop by later to see you," Alexi added as he left.

Annetka glared at Amy who was trying hard not to laugh.

"Am I not allowed to have attention from a boy, Miss. Bentley?" Annetka asked.

With in a few weeks, all three girls were able to go back to work. Katrina was still sore, form head to toe, but she refused to lie still, so Mark reluctantly allowed her to go back to work.

On the morning that Katie returned, Peter caught her by the arm and pulled her aside. Katie winced in pain, and bit her lip to keep from crying out.

"I'm so sorry, Carrots. I forgot. I...I..."

"It's okay, but next time, just call me over instead of grabbing at my arm."

"Listen we never had our dinner two Saturdays ago."

Katie hung her head. "I know." she whispered.

"So can we talk now?"

"Sure."

Peter led Katrina into the hospital garden and sat her down on a bench. He then sat next to her.

"Um... Katie, I guess I don't really know how to start this," Peter began.

"Start what?"

"Katie, why do you hate me so much?"

"What?" Katie was shocked by Peter's question, and didn't know what to say.

"You continue to avoid me, and it just seems that anything that I do... I don't know."

"I... I don't understand, Peter." Katie looked away. She knew exactly what Peter was trying to say.

"Yes, you do. Katrina Evangeline Sloan, look at me."

Katrina slowly lifted her eyes to meet Peter's gaze. He had never used her full name before, and she didn't know what to think.

"Katrina, you know that I love you. I always have, and always will. I don't understand what I have done to turn you away."

Suddenly, Peter noticed a Katie's eyes shine in a way he had never seen before. He saw a look of hurt and betrayal. Tears formed in Katie's eyes, and she spoke in a soft yet cool manner.

"How can you say that you love me when you know that you have a love back in England? Mary told me about Joy. What about her, Peter?"

Peter winced. He had never meant for Katrina to find out about Joy, had never wanted that to get out. What had he done?

"Katrina, I can explain. What I meant was... I mean..."

"You mean what, Doctor Barry?"

"Katie, my precious girl, let me explain. I can break with Joy. I can end it as soon as I need to."

"Oh, and then break another girl's heart like you've broken mine?" Katie stood and faced Peter. "You are going to have to choose between the two of us," she continued, "and if this is how it's going to be, I don't think that I want to be the girl you choose."

"Katrina, my girl, let me make myself clear," Peter exclaimed, trying to correct the mistakes he had already made that morning.

"Oh, you have already made yourself and you choice quite clear, Doctor Barry, and I am not your girl. Why don't you just go back to Bristol, and to Joy?"

Katrina ran back into the building and strait to her uncle's office. She knew that she could find him there.

"Katie, wait," Peter called after her.

"Katie, what's wrong?" Mark asked as his niece came into his office, and ran to his arms.

"Everything. Absolutely everything." she sobbed.

Katrina began to explain all that had just occurred with Peter, and how heartbroken she was. Mark quietly listened, and comforted however he could. Finally, Katie stood up, and said that she felt better.

"Let me know if you want to talk to me later." James said.

"Okay. Thank you, Uncle Mark."

As Katie walked out of her uncle's office, Amy caught her by the arm. Again, Katrina winced in pain and drew back.

"I'm sorry, Kat," Amy said.

"It's okay," Katie sighed.

"What is wrong with you? You flew through her like you were going to die. You really had Annetka and I worried," she asked.

"You don't want to know. It's over now, and it isn't really a big deal," Katrina replied, attempting to walk away.

Amy reached out to pull her friend back, but stopped short. "I don't believe you." she said.

Katie sighed, turned back, and began to relate all that had happened to her in the last few minutes. Finally after the whole story was out, Amy said, "I'm really sorry, Katie. Is there anything I can do?"

"No, but thanks for the offer," Katie smiled.

"Well, I guess this isn't a good time to tell you that Steve is here and wants to talk to you."

"I can talk to him. Where is he?"

"Doctors' lounge."

"Thanks."

Katrina walked into the lounge and sat at the table where her cousin sat. He smiled at her and began to ask her about her attacker.

"Well, it was dark, so I didn't see a whole lot. He was kind of tall, and he had light brown hair and hazel eyes. He didn't have a rich French accent, like his partner, but he was really big and strong."

"Did you get a name?"

"Joe. Well, that's what he told me. His partner's name was Pierre."

"We have Pierre in custody. But, I have no clue where Joe is."

"I wish I could tell you."

"It's all right. You've been a big help as it is. I'll let you get back to work, but I'll let you know if I find anything."

"Okay. See you later."

Later that afternoon, Steve called Katie and told her that they had located and arrested the girls' attacker, and that he was one of Richard Maxwell's henchmen. Maxwell had sent him to get the girls off of Becca's case and hopefully off of his own. He was afraid that Becca would talk too much. Lucky for him, Becca didn't even remember who he was at the time.

Mark had continued to talk to Maxwell day by day, learning something new each time. One day, however, the bombings mysteriously stopped, and so did Richard's answers.

On this particular day, as Mark walked to the doctor's lounge, he was sure he recognized a new doctor. Where had he seen him before?

In the lounge, Amy was reading a book, Annetka was working on her laptop, and Amanda, Jesse, Peter, and Steve sat talking about the mystery. The bombings had stopped, and no one seemed to know why.

"Where's Katie?" Mark asked as he entered the room.

"Up on the fifth floor making rounds. Speaking of which, I need to get back to." Jesse said.

"I'll come with you," Steve said, "We need to talk about Barbecue Bobs."

"I would feel better if Trina was down here with us," Peter said, "She really needs to be resting instead of working."

"And planning to settle down and care for his kids, no doubt," Annetka whispered to Amy.

Amy looked up from her book, and smiled at Annetka. Lately, Peter had eased up on his teasing, and had tried to win Katie's heart. Katrina was still been holding back, not willing to give in to Peter. She had been hurt too badly to hand her heart right back to Peter. Or so they thought.

"Uncle Mark, what did Maxwell tell you this time?" Katrina asked as she walked into the room. She walked over to sit by Annetka, and looked away as Peter smiled at her, to hide the crimson color rising in her cheeks.

"He didn't tell me much. He said that his sister wasn't who I needed. He said that he had new help for his project." Suddenly, Mark stopped, and starred toward the elevator. He suddenly realized who the new doctor was that he had seen; Joe Thomas, the girls' attacker. Mark recognized him from the pictures Steve had showed him. Now, as the elevator doors were closing, he saw Joe smile slyly and wave at him.

Mark whirled around and pulled the fire alarm. "Everybody out now!" he yelled. As people began running out of the hospital, a bomb exploded.

Katrina turned as she heard a second bomb go off. She watched as time seemed to slow down and took in all of the sights and sounds around her. In front of her, her friends were running towards the exits. Behind her, she saw doctors with little children, and mother's holding their babies close to them. Doctors and nurses tried to hurry as many patients as they could toward the doors.

Katie suddenly was worried about Peter. She looked around frantically for him. Where was he? Was he okay? Had he made it out of the building? But why should she care? He probably wasn't looking for her anyway. He was too busy thinking about Joy in England.

She looked in front of her again and saw Amy and Annetka. Katie prayed that they would make it out in time. Suddenly, Katie was thrust forward, and it seemed that time had once more returned to it's normal pace. Katrina cried out in pain as she fell to the floor, and a wall of fire, caused by the explosion passed over her, burning her skin and hair. Katie covered her head as she heard the building collapsing all around her.

She was covered in debris, and her cry of agony was stifled when a beam fell on her already bruised body, trapping her where she lay. Katrina lay still and soon blacked out from the pain.


End file.
